Sea and Sky

Chapter Sixteen

Harry was curled up on the beach, fully out of the water, his beautiful green tail was a pale sickly colour, scales flaking off. His tail was dry, scarily so and it was peeling, the thin fin at the end and the ruffles near his bum were cracked and brittle looking. Harry was still, his arms, one on his belly and the other on the ground beside him were unusually pale, his bottom half, curled up so he rested on his hip and thigh, his chest was pointed to the sky, and it wasn't rising, slowly steadily like it normally did. His hair was framing his face and Louis couldn't help but notice, even now in this horrible state, how truly beautiful Harry was, his shock was broken when a little voice beside him whispered

"Harry?" Ever so quietly. Louis dropped out of the air and scrambled to Harry, sobbing out in desperation and pressing his fingers to the side of Harrys neck.

He felt a faint thump-thump below his fingers, hearing the raspy faint sounds of breathing coming from Harrys parted dry pink lips, and sent a silent thank you to every god he could think of.

"Louis what's wrong with Harry? Is he dying?" Fern asks fearfully

"No!" Louis barks, and fern jumps back, frightened, tears coming to her eyes before she runs off into the woods crying to break her little heart. Louis doesn't notice this however as his attention is back to the dying merman before him, he tries to lift Harry, to out him back in the water, but Harry was dead weight and Louis was panicking, unable to get his arms to cooperate enough.

"HELP!" He screams "SOMEONE HELP ME PLEASE!"

Tears stream down his face as he pleads with Harry "Please Harry, I can't lose you, I-I need you"

"HELP!" He shouts again and then quieter "help..."

It feels like an eternity before a merman broke the surface, looking slightly pissed off, but upon noticing Harry he swims over and helps Louis get Harry back into the water.

"I'll take him from here" he says and then disappears underwater with Harry in his arms, leaving Louis a sobbing mess on the beach. He plopped down in the sand, and felt something poke his thigh. He reaches into the sand ready to fling the thing away but stops, staring at in horror, disbelief and desperation.

A ring.

It has a diamond surface, bumpy but smooth and slightly gritty, blue in colour, that looked and felt like sea glass, and it had gold foil inside it strewn here and there.

Louis felt helpless as he turned the ring around and around in his fingers, tears dripping off his face, some hitting its surface, some falling into the damp sand below him.

He heard someone walking through the sand behind him but he didn't turn, not even when they sat down beside him.

"I'm not happy with you, I hope you know that"

Louis sighs, continuing to turn the ring in his nimble fingers.

"what happened Louis, why did I open my door to find that poor little girl crying and babbling about you and Harry"

Louis closes his eyes, stopping his fingers in their anxious movements.

"I came back to the beach and Harry was here, curled up, dried out" Louis says barley able to get the words out

"What?" Jay asks her voice betraying the concern she felt for Harry, and her son if this didn't turn out alright in the end.

"H-he was waiting here all day for me, but I forgot and h-he must have fallen asleep because he wasn't conscious when I got here, he was struggling to  breath and his pulse was barely there I-I got scared and yelled at her, I didn't mean to but she ran off..." Louis says