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Chapter 6: Sea Salt Tears

Hyunjin sighed deeply when he reached the locker room connected to one of the hidden water entrances of Atlantis. It was essentially a cave with some lockers and changing rooms build into the stone of one wall and a glittering pool of sea water, which lead one just outside the barrier of Atlantis, stretching over half of the cave. The whole thing was illuminated with magical orbs. They lit up automatically when someone crossed the line of runes at the top of the stairs leading down to the locker room or when someone stepped out of the pool of water. It had been one of Seungmin's inventions. Jisung had helped him set it up here about three years ago. Hyunjin had smiled so much that day, his cheeks had hurt. He still smiled now when he thought about it. Seungmin was just amazing when he was tasked to solve a problem. He made it look easy too.

The siren headed towards the locker he had claimed as his years ago. It must have been around the time he had started training with the other water creatures. It was weird to think that the war, which had pushed him to start training more of his underwater skills, had been going on for so long now. To Hyunjin it was his daily life now. He went on missions with his group and Byungho. He exchanged important information with their spies within the hunters. He served as the first line of defense for Atlantis along with the other members of the 'Water Guard'. He had just started to accept that silly name because it had caught on so well.

He pulled his uniform out of the locker and headed towards the changing room. It was a rather simple uniform. It was colored black to make blending into the darkness of the deep sea easier. The hardened plates on the chest and back were enchanted to make them as light as a feather. The same was done to the arm and leg guards. There were also slits in the thick fabric to not restrict or damage his fins when he changed form. Technically, there was also a harness for a weapon, but Hyunjin did not carry one so it was redundant. Still, he put it on. It was better to have it than to miss it if he had to carry someone else's weapon.

When he was finished changing, he took another deep breath to dispel the tiredness still lingering in his limbs and then jumped into the water. His eyes opened, changed from their usual dark color to a stunning blue. His skin tingled a bit as some of his scales began to show on his cheeks and the slits in his suit were filled out with his fins. He shot out of the cave like a rocket despite not possessing a fishtail like the merfolk. Sometimes he wished he did, but sirens were not made for the deep sea like them. They were meant for more shallow waters where they could be heard by beings not much taller than themselves.

Hyunjin's siren eyes had grown accustomed to the deep sea over the last four years. His mother had predicted as much, but Hyunjin had been the one to say it was impossible. Now here he was swimming in the darkness of the deep sea with a sight that may not be as good as it could be but enough for his job. There was not much to see anyway. Outside of scattered stones, the gigantic rock formation, which was not real at all but an illusion to keep Atlantis out of view, and the sand at the bottom of the ocean there was nothing but weird algae and seaweeds. Hyunjin was glad for the absence of any fish today. Those deep sea fish were far from pretty, but they did not need to be with the near lack of light. Though, through their hiding Hyunjin knew that at least one merfolk was around. The fish of the deep sea may not fear sirens, but they did fear merfolk.

Hyunjin noticed Mark's red hair and scarlet fins before he could hear his name being called by the other siren's melodic voice which echoed through the water. The merman swimming besides Mark was also difficult to miss despite Jungwoo's pinkish scales having taken on a darker hue over the last four years. Both of them wore their own version of the uniform that now adored Hyunjin's form.

"Sorry for the short notice. I know you just got back from a mission with your group," Mark immediately apologized. He looked as composed as he could be with his back straight and fins moving controlled with the tugging of the deep sea. Still, the look in his reddish glowing eyes could only be described as apologetic stress. The other siren was dealing with a lot of different tasks and Hyunjin did not envy him for it. He had a lot of respect for Mark not having a burn-out yet. Though, the slight eye bags he was sporting were worrying.