Submerged

3

Leo Wood's POV
[ what happened before Mina got into the castle's grounds ]

After listening into Mina's conversation with her, I almost immediately regretted not informing Mina about why I was so protective of her. "Great, Leo. She's in danger now. What have you gotten her into?" I growl to myself, and pick up my little denim ripped back pack. Thoughts poured into my head again, and I wiped sweat off my forehead. I hummed some tunes as I made my way down to the sea.

Quickly, I hid my backpack and expensive fandora behind a scraped rock. I admired the vast and beautiful ocean, as it laid across the land, distinctively laying against the vibrant sky. The sounds of hungry seagulls entered my ears and I watched them silently search for food. I take a deep breath, and dive straight into the numbing water. The cold sensation hit my cheek, as I start swimming straight to Mina's kingdom.

I had about 20 more seconds to take a breath, and dive straight back down to death. I'm not a typical water breathing human, like Mina and her extraordinary family. She was special, and I was the only person to keep her a secret from my friends. I swam back up to the surface for the last breath, and plunged down. The kingdom of coral came into view, and I smiled.

She was curled up by this guy, with a smirk plastered on her face. I need to get her attention in less then 45 seconds, or else I lose my life. I quickly swam behind the gates of her home, and quickly searched for something to throw for her attention. There were a few sea shells, that lined up by the path. I grabbed one, and threw it in her direction. It landed by her tail, and she looked at it with concern.

"What was that? Is someone there?" She yells, looking at her surroundings carefully. She stops her search, and quickly gets up. "I should be heading back to the castle, I'll book you a meeting with father, Archer." Mina winks and swims straight towards the gate I was hiding behind. My throat hitches and my vision blurs. Mina swims next to me, and I grabbed her by her arm and pulled her out of reach of the two men.

Her eyes widen immediately as she stares at me in surprise. I let go of her and point to the surface, frantically. She nods and we both head to the surface. As my head bobs back and forth above the water, I cough and gasp for a larger amount of Washington's heavily polluted air. Doesn't sound pleasant does it? Meanwhile I was having a small asma attack, Mina quietly glares at me, waiting for something to happen.

"Why are you here?" She crosses her arms.

I sigh,"I want to explain why everything happened so fast earlier."

"Hm, okay. You should start explaining, before I get bored and head back."

"Right, its not simple. The girl you met? She's my land girlfriend, and she's absolutely INSANE. I promise you, I'm not lying. She might look adorable and happy talking to you, but she can lash at you at any moment. She doesn't let me go near any other person besides my family, and the last time I remember, she murdered my cousin. It's not easy living with her in my life, and as much as I want to, she won't let me break up with her."

Mina speaks up softly,"She, she looked so nice."

"I know, and exactly. I've tried everything I could to leave her sight, but she always is following me. I wished for some peace at the beach today, but that's who you might've saw calling someone. Once I saw her, I pulled you into the cave because if she finds you talking to me, you're dead."

"Oi, she came up to talk to me today."

"Yes, I know. And now she knows who you look like, so if she finds you anywhere around me you're literally a goner."

"Pft, I'm sure I can handle her."

"Uh, right... anyways. I should we heading back to my home now, you should be heading back to your kingdom."

"Mhm, well, thank you for telling me. If she knows that you visit the beach more often now, where are you going to meet me?"

"Oh! Right, I'll show you tomorrow if you can make it, it's my favorite hang out place that's often empty."

"Sounds good. See you tomorrow, I need time to think about this."

"Have as long as you want, bye, Mina."

She waved and swam into the ocean, but before she left, she gave me a sweet charming smile. I grinned because I did something amazing yet horrible today. My smile fades as I see a figure standing on the shoreline. This figure was standing there, waiting for something. How am I going to get back without getting caught? I'm not sure.

ー

Sorry about that, this chapter is only 1000 words long. It isn't as long as I would normally write, but I'm running out of ideas and I'm sick currently. I've been spending my past couple days stalking people online who are known for journaling. Speaking of which, I really want to start sometime! It looks really interesting and it's stunning.

I need to buy a lot of stuff to start off scratch, though. Like new gel pens and markers, as well as a journal and stickers along with washi! I'm excited to the core, but it's going to cost a fortune. Good luck to me. I'm going to start the next chapter now, if you're confused with the plot, ask me questions, and I'll try my absolute best to answer them without spoiling it for you!

I'm doing another writing challenge with my best friend, so I'll be posting a lot. Watch out for a bunch more updates!

Sloppy corgi kisses,
Angelina Tran
♡