Swim Away (Mermaid)

Chapter Thirty-One

I slowly moved my hand toward my face and put it into a fist. While being conscious I just wished I could go back to sleep. But I couldn't go back to sleep, so I turned around and opened my eyes.

I jumped when I saw Asher leaning at my door frame. His eyes were closed and his arms were folded.

"What are you doing here?" I asked, surprised to see him here.

"Don't you remember?" He didn't move or open his eyes.

I adverted my eyes toward my balcony doors. "The storm," I whispered. I threw off my blanket, got off my bed, and walked toward my balcony. "It's clear," I said. "Does that mean it's over?"

"You tell me." He still stayed in place.

"It looks like it," I said.

"Looks can be deceiving. Does it feel like it's over?" He asked. I turned to look at him, his face once again a look I had never seen on him before. It lasted longer this time.

"Ash-"

"It's nothing. Just give me your answer." He rubbed his face, then brought back his calm, cool look.

"Not until you tell me what's wrong." I didn't have a feeling of anything anyway. I couldn't answer his question because I wasn't even sure of what happened yesterday besides the storm. As of now, most of it was a blur, I only remember leaving the house.

He turned his head and sighed. I walked over to him, but he put his hand to stop me. So, I sat on my bed instead. He moved over a bit and faced me, while still leaning against the wall.

"I've-the storm-this is something I have faced before. I'm not going to keep things from you because protectors always think they're doing the right thing by letting the situation flow on it's own. I think that's wrong. The mermaid has a right to know everything that's happening so she has the power to prevent what is going to happen to her. In the past, it had worked well. But now, it's not. Things need to change. As if they care about change, huh." He put his hand to his forehead. "I can't believe this," he whispered to himself. "I've-" this seemed to be hitting him. When he tried to get to the main point his mind wouldn't stay in the present. "I've made this mistake." He slid down from the wall and sat on the floor.

"What are you saying?" I asked, putting the pieces together. Almost.

"I use to be a protector, Lara." He ran his hands through his hair, and sighed.

"Wait, what?!" My eyes grew wide. "But, you told me you were like some merman thing without a tail."

"Yeah, I know. I'm not supposed to interfere. Another protector is not allowed to come near another protector's area. It's the rule. I was supposed to go 'live my life'. But I couldn't. I couldn't keep going, knowing somewhere out there another protector and mermaid would be going through what I went through. As of right now, everything seems okay. But I could be wrong." He whispered, "at least you're alive." Though, I was pretty sure he wanted me to hear that. He wanted me to know the dangers, but wasn't it already too late?

"What do you mean? What happened with you, and where's the mermaid you had to protect?" I didn't want to push him, but since he wanted me to know everything, I was going to ask for everything.

He looked away, his eyes showing pain and sorrow.

Already knowing the answer, I put my hand to my mouth. "I'm sorry."

"Her name was Clara." He continued, "she passed away."

"It's okay, you don't have to." It would be enough for now. I didn't like seeing him hurt. It wasn't like him, but that also proved that I didn't know him very well. He did lie about the merman thing after all. Everything could've been an act.

"It happened two years ago. On that night, I wasn't there." I could hear the pain in his voice.

"Asher-"

"I went to her house after the meeting and once I opened the door I saw how horrified she was. Everything she touched lit up in flames. I tried to help her, but I couldn't even go near her. The heat and flames were too strong. I couldn't do anything as I watched her house go up in flames. Soon enough, the firefighters came and dragged me out. I called for her, but she shook her head at me. The flames not only engulfing her home, but her as well. The firefighter never saw her. They were no help to her. And I couldn't help her either." He kept his eyes on the ground and his hands were shaking. "If only I was there earlier, or didn't go to that stupid meeting!"

I wiped some of the tears that were running down my face. This was so unfair. Just because we had dark powers in us we had to prove ourselves that we can control it. From all the stories we have heard, it has never mentioned any of them being consumed by their dark side. Clara died because of the stupid rules that were set for us.

I sat on the floor in front of Asher. "It's not your fault."

I couldn't help but think about how Noah never showed up. I wanted him to be with me. Where was he?

I'm glad Asher did show up to help me. I honestly wouldn't of known what to do without him.

I grabbed his hand and watched how his eyes opened. "Thank you."

"Huh?"

"For yesterday. You helped me. Thank you." I let go of his hand and stood up.

"Wait," Asher said, "there's something you need to know." I didn't move. "Not only did that happen to Clara, but I heard a mermaid and protector both passing away last year."

"Both?" I asked.

"Yes. Both Sara Oceanhart and Aiden Yuki lost their lives in a snow storm."

"Oh my gosh," I whispered. "Are there anymore protectors?"

"No, just three of us. There's something weird going on with our generation. I can't say I know for sure, but I think the mermaid leaders are aware of this and have chosen to do nothing about it. I haven't met with them for two years, so I have no idea what's going on." He paused. "Lara, there's a pattern here and I don't know what that means."

He stood up and walked towards my balcony. I followed him outside.

Everything out here was back to normal. The storm vanished as if it never happened. The news probably talked about it, but I didn't care. Thankfully it was over.

Asher continued, "I'm thinking of facing those mermaids again. I want to confront them about this. It's so weird to me how both Sara and Aiden died, but then I live and Clara doesn't." He kept his eyes on the waves. The wind was blowing his blond hair around. He didn't smile nor frown, he seemed lost in thought.

I also looked out at the ocean, watching the waves crash onto the shore.

I started to think about the mermaids and protectors as well. If I remembered correctly, the journal didn't have a story on this. It only told of all the mermaids that had succeeded against the flame. It couldn't be that they all succeeded, right?

The journal wasn't written by the mermaid leaders. It was written by the mermaids who went through this experience, but if they died before overcoming the flame then they wouldn't have been able to write in the journal.

I would have to look inside of it once Noah returned, since it wasn't accessible when he wasn't around.

Noah, where are you?

Please come back soon.

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Yay!! Updated sooner than usual!

Also profile change!

Anyway, thank you for reading!

I will try to keep updating sooner!

:)