DEEP END // Harry Styles

Royal Ball

TW: Assault

A/N: Please let me know what you think. I need feedback to feel motivated. Also, what do you expect to happen in the next chapter?

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When Harry came to the guest room this morning and couldn't find Ezi, he had hoped that something had happened overnight, and she'd magically returned to where she'd come from, and he, at last, could have his old life back. But no. He was immensely disappointed to find her sitting cross-legged on the edge of his pool, just staring blankly at the water like she was in a sad music video. What did he expect? It wasn't like she could grow some wings to fly all the way home.

"Good morning!"

Ezi flinched at the sound of his voice. She pulled her feet out of the water and frantically stood up as Harry approached.

He held out his hand to ask her to stay. "It's okay. You can use the pool. I rarely go swimming anyway."

Ezi's brows furrowed slightly as she tucked a strand behind her ear and stared anxiously at the blue water. "How can you swim in this pond? It smells funny."

"It's not a pond. It's a swimming pool. There's chemicals in it; that's why it smells like that."

Ezi cocked her head, seemingly confused. "Why you gotta make your own pond and put chemicals in it? Why do humans have to make their own versions of everything that's already available in nature?"

"It's cleaner and safer to swim in pools," Harry pointed out.

Ezi couldn't look more offended by his remark. "The ocean was clean before you trashed it with your chemicals."

"I didn't trash the ocean," Harry corrected, pointing to his chest. "How many times do I have to tell you that I'm not responsible for environmental pollution?"

Ezi folded her arms and glared at him. "Why are you afraid of the ocean?"

"You're literally a killing machine."

"You people make machines that shoot fire and blow up each other's ships, and yet we're the killing machines."

"Well, the ocean is scary anyway. It's deep and dark."

"It's literally water," argued Ezi. "Water is the driving force of all nature, and you're afraid of it."

"Forget it." Harry exhaled as he tossed his hands in the air. "I can never win an argument with you."

"Good," Ezi said with a slight shrug.

"Anyway." Harry rolled his eyes. "Come inside for breakfast. I have something to discuss with you while you eat."

"Your maid brought you something this morning," Ezi said when Harry was about to walk away.

Slowly, he turned back to face her with his eyebrows raised. "Who?"

"Your maid," she said with a straight face. "The girl with green hair. I think she brought you some clothes and put them in the room next to mine."

"That's Amy, my assistant!" cried Harry as he gripped his own hair. "You two didn't have a conversation, right? Please tell me you didn't call her a maid to her face!"

Ezi looked rather amused when she saw how distressed Harry was. How could she be smiling? He wouldn't be the only one who'd be in trouble if her identity was revealed. Fuck that. What if the government found out that he was keeping her here and locked him up, too? Was it a crime to keep a mythical creature in your house? Could he be executed for that?