Love Far Beyond the Ashes

Nice Stroll

Zeta pov: "How're you holding up?" I asked Ela, and she looked at me and smiled.

"I'm fine," Ela told me.

"Oh, well, you've been walking for a while!" I told her

"You just put me down." Ela mumbled

"Zeta let her walk for a little bit; she could use the exercise," Selen stated.

"Shove it..." I snarled

"She is right, you know?" Kaela said

"I know, but still, that sounds rude." I said

"Look, we aren't going to be running, just taking a nice stroll, so don't worry about your fiancé," Selen said.

"Easy for you to say..." I told her

"Don't worry if something comes up; I'll protect you and her; if I don't, Mumei may get mad." Selen laughed.

"Oh, I'll be mad at you before her!" I said to her:

"I'm sure you will," Selen laughed.

"So...what are you doing?" I asked

"Huh?" Selen questioned

"Why are you acting like this?" I asked

"Like what?" Selen asked

"So nice," I said to her.

Selen laughed again, but then she glared at me and said, "I don't need a fucking reason." She stated

I was about to come back but was interrupted. "Zeta drop it," Kaela said to me.

"Ugh, fine," I said.

We kept walking until we made it to a lake. "She's not here?" Selen said

"Who?" Kaela asked.

"Oh, my friend, it doesn't matter if she isn't here; I'll just have to try again later, and we can move on," Selen told us.

"Maybe we should go on a little swim," I said.

"That does sound like a decent idea; we can just soak for a bit," Selen said.

"I don't know if I really want to," Ela said.

"You can do whatever you think will be best for your health," I told her.

"Yeah, please don't stress yourself out," Selen said.

Selen and I threw off our clothes and jumped into the lake. We both swam around for a bit and then looked at one another.

"Let's have a contest to see who can hold their breath the longest!" Selen said

"Sure..." I said to her.

We both got a large breath of air and dunked our heads under the water. I looked at her and tried not to laugh. There is no way she is beating me since I was modified. I think I can breathe underwater for thirty minutes. I slowly watched her realize she wouldn't be able to hold her breath longer than me.

Her eyes grew wide, and her oxygen supply began to drop. I was impressed by her ongoing battle; she has a bigger air capacity than a human; she is a sky dragon after all.

Selen shot up to get a huge breath of air, and I just sat in the water, still holding my breath. I chuckled a little bit due to how funny it was that I easily won. As I tried to go to the surface, I felt something tug my leg and pull me under more. This lake was deep for no reason.

I immediately began to kick down, trying to kick the attacker off. I wanted to get this attacker to the surface since I assumed she was an aquatic being, but the person wouldn't let go. I felt something soft, so I assumed this was a woman.

I decided I would have to break out even if I ripped my leg off. I did a powerful kick, trying to rip her off, but somehow the impact was canceled out.

Damn it I thought to myself, This isn't going to work. I mean, I have a lot of time to get out of this and get to the surface, but I don't want to have to deal with this nonsense. I just want to put an end to this all.

I decided to just temporarily break my leg and try to escape since my body heals really fast, but before then I was slammed into the ground.

I could see clearly that the attacker was a mermaid. This could be tough, to be honest. All I have to do is try to outswim her.

I got up and punched the ground as hard as I could, creating a sand storm under the water, and I immediately began to swim to the surface, but I was cut off. I just looked straight on and slammed into the girl and began to take her up with me, but she tried to push me down.

This isn't going to be the end. I'm not going to drown due to a damn mermaid. I can't let this happen. I'd be leaving Ela behind and everyone else. It hasn't even been more than three minutes since I was dragged under. I still have plenty of time, but if I keep being dragged further down and am stuck there, eventually I'll run out of air.

Let's go... I tried to push my body to swim faster, but I was being pushed by the same force, obviously because mermaids are aquatic and suited to fight in the water. I need to get out of the water as soon as possible, and why didn't this thing try to go for Selen?

I'm sure Selen and Ela won't come to help me since I can breathe underwater for so long, so I can't rely on them. I won't rely on them.

How would Mumei get out of this? I questioned ei get out of this? I questioned myself, but then I realized I began to spin to throw off the other woman and get some more force on my side. I rammed out of the water and saw Selen look up, confused.

I spun around and threw the woman into the forest, needing to get her away from the water.

"Wait, that was my friend!" Selen said

"Eh?" I said I was confused.

"Yeah, that was her. Why did you do that?" Selen laughed

"She tried to drown me," I said.

"That is what mermaids do," Selen said.

"Fair enough," I laughed.

"You okay?" Ela asked with genuine concern.

"Yeah, I am," I told her as I stepped out of the water.

I looked at my right leg and saw it was a little damaged, but I didn't care. Selen used fire to immediately dry me off, and I got dressed once again.

"Let's go get that mermaid, then," I sighed.

One thing I learned from fairytale creatures is that they never have happy endings, so I don't get why they are told to children, so it's time to face everything.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Ela asked

"Yes, I am," I laughed.

I held her hand and reassured her that I would not be going anywhere and would be with her.