{LeviHan} Beyond

Chapter 5: Maiden

"Returning to the shores, she remembers the mark she was gifted. It was such a low chance of meeting this... man. Maybe her heart yearned for it... yearned for the knowledge that the sea was hiding. What was the sea hiding in the depths of the dark? Was this man with his gift one of those knowledge hidden away? Was it fate? Was it destined?"

Hanji's POV

"Ah... Hanji?" Nanaba questioned, seeing I was still having my hair down. It's understandable- I always had my hair up. But with that bite mark lingering on my skin, I don't want to get that topic of how I got it. 

"Yeah?"

She held the plastic bag on her leg, sighing heavily. "Something's wrong with you... I know it... so tell me, Hanji... what's going on with you? I know just mere hours ago, you were normal- but now... your hair's down... you're hiding your neck, huh?"

Chuckling a bit, I was able to say a small joke. "A vampire got me."

"Enough with the jokes," she says with a small smile. "But seriously? What's up with you?"

"I..." I would've been laughed at if I said some creature jumped onto me and bit me. But there could've been another reason... "Erwin promoting me was..."

"You knew beforehand? You were acting weird right before he announced it to us."

"I knew he was promoting," lies continued to flow from my gritted teeth, "that's why we had that party last night. I didn't expect him to choose me as his successor. I put my hair down to act... prettier. Now I feel like I have to keep it down..."

Nanaba smiled softly, shaking her head. "When you have it down, you do make yourself look attractive. Now if you want to show who's boss, keep it high and up. Either way, you look prettier. Don't think about your hair that'll keep you from being who you truly are."

What words of wisdom...

"Anyways- I'm going to take these last few things back to the truck- want to do a quick sweep?"

"Of course."

She makes her leave, and I was here, left alone. I wonder...

*   *   *

Trekking on the shore, I didn't see anything different. As the moon was high and nearly full last night, all footsteps along the shore disappeared. No evidence of the previous day was present. Such nature was beautiful, yet cruel. How something could appear beautiful as it erases evidence of life.

Scrap, scrap, scrap

The noise I've heard was slow... almost like being dragged. I should've run... yet my legs were glued to the sand- as if I was sinking... I couldn't move a muscle... 

As the noise continued, I finally gained the courage to figure out what that noise was. Step by step, I finally saw what caused it. The creature from last night... how it proved myths could finally be real. 

A man dragging himself to the salty waters. Why couldn't he walk? Perhaps his legs were replaced with a shimmering black tail. Scales sparkling as the sun continued to rise from its slumber.

"Gah..."

Such a noise from me announced my appearance to the man. He darts his head towards me- those pearly, silver eyes... striking deep in my soul. My knees buckled when I saw how human-like he was... he was half man... half fish... a mythical merman...

With a hurried pace, he dragged himself to shore, yet I stopped him. More like I tackled him before he could escape my grasp.

Instantly, he hissed; those pupils of his grew small as the grayed color grew sharper in color. His teeth turned from normal human ones to a little sharpened. Not too sharp- sharp enough to pierce into flesh and draw blood.

"You..." I whispered, knowing this was the same creature from last night. Those recognizable eyes... his raven-colored hair was hidden from the blackness of night... but now, it was clear. Matted to his head... my eyes couldn't help but examine him closer. Abs carved into his body... such...

"Hands off!" He scowls, continuing to hiss at me. 

"You can speak English!" Thrashing to get me off, he clearly didn't want to kill me. Just wanted to escape. "Please, I just want to talk! I'm... I'm curious..."

His chest rapidly rising and falling... it wasn't long until it slowed down. I can hear him inhaling sharply, but he was able to calm down. Salt water stopped splashing onto my glasses. Whatever I could see was now blurred. Either from my glasses or the salt water in my eyes.

"Please..."

"What," he began with a heavy scowl on his pale face, "do you want?"

"You bit me last night, right? Why...? Why did you bite me?"

"To save someone," he confesses, "and I rather you to not hurt her."

"Her?" I smiled softly, chuckling a bit. "I can't believe it... mermaids and mermen are real... was that mermaid somewhat like your girlfriend or something? That could be one of the reasons why you protected her-"

"She was a friend of mine!"

For some reason, his hissing and shouting didn't frighten me at all. This new... energy pounding inside of me... it gave me courage. Courage to stand my ground and talk with this... interesting merman. 

"Don't you dare hurt them!"

"But why would I hurt them? I'm just curious, after all. I have no intentions on hurting anyone... I really don't."

This man sighed, trying to squirm out of my grasp; why doesn't he know it's useless to get out of my hands? Well... he's half fish... he could easily slip out- gah, I can't think like that! 

"Do you have somewhere to go?" I asked, willing to let him go, though it broke my heart to do so. My curiosity has been peaked... I want to know more about this... other realm next to us. "I'll... I'll let you go if you have to..."

Could he sense my sadness and reluctance to let him go? Is that why he asked these next few words? "Do you wish to talk to me more?"

Guiltily, I nodded my head. "I do..."

Then, "I'll... I'll come back... when the sun falls... meet me back here."

"You'll come back?"

"You haven't harmed me... and you're allowing me to escape... I shouldn't trust you... but I have a feeling you're different. As long as you keep your promise of not revealing me, I'll talk to you about myself. As long as you promise whatever we talk about will not get out to others' ears, I'll tell you whatever you want. As long as you tell me more about your world... I'll tell you about my world."

"Deal."

Without another word, I let him go. He swam back into the depths of the water- but not before he swam gently onto shallow shore. His eyes went back to normal, yet he couldn't bear a smile on his face. "Levi."

"Huh?"

"My name's Levi. May I know the maiden's name?"

Did he really call me a maiden? "Thy maiden's name is Hanji." Awkwardly, I gave a bow. There was that smile tugging at his lips. "I shall await for you here when the sun sets then."

"I'll be there then."

That was it. A merman named Levi disappeared into the sea... now I hope to see him tonight.