The Waves Are Ours |Virgato|

Chapter 11: Luna

As Chris came back to consciousness, he found that two faces were looking down at him, the stars shining above them. They were still on the beach. He could hear the nearby sounds of the festival as a new performer had come on to play. He felt a lot better than he had a few moments ago. He could feel the tightness of something around his arms where they had been bleeding. Richard let out a loud sigh of relief. Yet Chris let out a sharp yell as his eyes met with the girl beside him.

"Luna, what the heck are you doing here?" he asked. He was stunned that his best friend had come up to the surface. She was dressed in a simple plain summer dress that Chris had no idea how his friend had acquired. It was jarring to see her without her tail or the bright purple tips on the ends of her white blonde hair.

"I could be asking you the same thing," she frowned down at him. She didn't give him time to respond. "If you're wondering, your father sent me up here. Once I saw the whole thing with the palace guards, I couldn't stand by and watch any longer."

Chris frowned at the mention of his father. He trusted Luna, but as much as they were friends, he knew she was painfully loyal to his father as well. She probably even agreed with him.

"So you've been here this whole time. Why didn't you help when the guards attacked me?" Chris demanded.

Luna's eyes went to Richard nervously.

"Look, long story short, she helped me," Richard said, "She muttered something about you using too much magic in one go. I went and found the bandages and uh, I don't know what she did while I was gone, but you were looking better when I came back."

"Well thank you guys, I feel much better now," Chris smiled at his friends, though he was nervous that there was more to Luna's help than she was making out. It was still bothering him that his father had sent her up here and that she'd seemingly been keeping an eye on him.

Luna and Richard both gave him a small, relieved smile at those words.

"In any case, I really need to speak to you Chris. That's the reason I came up here," Luna explained after a moment's silence.

"Uh, I'll give you two some privacy then," Richard quickly spoke, shuffling awkwardly. "I'm going to see if I can find Erick and Joel. They'll be glad to know I found you."

"Thanks, Rich," Chris nodded.

Chris knew that if Luna was here, she would need to talk to him. She wouldn't have come to land without good reason. As much as he'd have preferred Richard to stay, he wasn't prepared for him to find out everything just yet either.

He watched as Richard nodded before he started to walk back towards the festival, leaving him alone on the shore with Luna.

"Your friend is nice," Luna spoke with a small wistful smile, her eyes watching him as he'd left. "Though I'd hate to know what your father would do if he knew about him... Especially when he knows about us."

"I know," Chris frowned, the original fear he had coming to the surface. If Luna could figure out that Richard knew he was a merman right away, so could his father. "You won't tell him will you?"

Luna shook her head, "You know I wouldn't sell you or your friend out like that Chris."

"I know..." Chris frowned, "But then what are you here for then?"

"Well, I'm not here to forcefully drag you back to the sea like the guards," Luna spoke. "I just want to ask you to stop living this lie and come back with me."

"No," Chris frowned. He had a feeling since he'd first seen her that this would be the case. He clenched his fist. He didn't blame her for wanting him to come back to the ocean, but not like this.