The Siren's Call

II

Karis awoke to someone kissing her. She formed her hand into a fist and threw it toward the man's face with all her might–the way she saw people do it in movies.
"Ow!" She gasped, clutching her hand after it hit him right in the jaw. He didn't flinch and she guessed it hurt her fist more than it hurt him. The man–younger than she originally thought, maybe nineteen–quickly got off of her. He was staring at her with a criticizing look.
"Are you still dead or are you naturally that pale?" He asked, looking her up and down (she didn't regret the punch, even though she realized he must've been doing mouth to mouth to get her breathing, not kissing her). She looked down as well, and saw she was wearing her black dress. Oh, her eyes widened in terror. My mom, she gasped, putting her hands around her throat. The boy's eyes widened with terror.
"I thought I got all the water out?!!" She ignored him as memories flashed back. Did I really try to kill myself? That wasn't like her. She made herself promise to never try that again, because her lungs felt like crap. She pushed all thoughts of her mother out of her head.
"Yes, you got it all out," she croaked, rubbing her neck. He let out a breath of relief and sat back into the sand.
"Why'd you do that?" He asked carefully, "when you knew you couldn't swim."
"I-" she stuttered, not sure how to find the words. "I don't know. Today was my mom's funeral." She kept her eyes down, fighting back tears from the saltwater. She waited. Then she looked up into his dark green/blue eyes. He looked at her and ran a hand through black hair.
"What?" He finally asked.
"You aren't going to say you're sorry?"
"For what?" He asked incredulously. She coughed.
"My mom,"
"Oh," his expression turned blank. "Would it matter if I did? Would it make you feel better? Would it keep you from jumping off that cliff again?"
"I-" how could she respond to that? "I guess not." He nodded and she looked away, pushing a strand of wet hair out of her face.
"I am sorry." He kept his gaze on the ocean and Karis mumbled her thanks.
"Wait," she began, "how come your clothes aren't wet? You were the one that pulled me out, right?" She looked around at the empty beach. That had to have been him in the water. And the light? She looked back at him. He was wearing a pair of shorts and a light grey button down T-shirt. Yet not a drop on his clothes.
"What do you mean?" He asked, letting out a shaky laugh. "I...I thought you were unconscious." He frowned.
"And that light too. How did you swim so fast? There was no one on the beach when I...jumped. And I was in pretty deep when you grabbed me." He scratched his head.
"I...was in the water." She raised her eyebrows and looked him up and down. "Well that sure explains the dry clothes?" He smiled, looking back at the ocean.
"Be careful," he said, looking at her with a mischievous glint in his eyes. "I know some people who wouldn't react as kindly to those questions."
She frowned at him, a gust of wind pulling her hair back behind her shoulders. She shivered, realizing her clothes were dripping wet. He opened his mouth then stopped, unbuttoning his shirt.
"Here," he said, tossing it to her. "I would give you my shorts too but I'm afraid that'd be very awkward for both of us." She laughed and he smiled. She wrapped the long sleeve button down shirt around her shoulders. At least it blocked the wind. She looked at him casually, he was much tanner than her. Does he work out or something? She pushed the thought out of her mind and kept her eyes on his face as he spoke.
"Look, it's been a rough day for both of us. I know people, people who would kill me for saying this but–if you never mention this to anyone, you'll be fine. You can go about your life and forget this ever happened. I'm sorry to say it but if you don't it won't end well for either of us." She looked at him incredulously.
"What?" She laughed in amusement and he scowled.
"I need you to take this seriously. Your life could be in danger." She laughed again at that.
"My life's in danger? You think I care? I might not want to drown as much as I did thirty minutes ago but life has kind of lost its...former glory." Karis looked him in the eyes. "It makes no difference to me. I have no reason not to tell anyone what I saw." She smiled to herself. I called his bluff. What did she see though? She had been barely conscious when he rescued her, but she couldn't let him know that. He was up to something and she would find out what.
"You're going to regret this," he said, sorrow flashing across his face.
"It won't be the only thing I regret," Karis sighed, looking down. Her lungs still burned.
"Okay then, I need you to come with me." He said, offering his hand to her.
"Oh, and I'll need my shirt back." She hastily pulled it off, not realizing how cold she'd been before. Then, she took his hand.

...

Henri wished he could say he regretted saving her. Him of all people should be someone to follow the law. Someone to uphold it. But what was done was done.
And he did not regret it.
She was actually good company. It was nice to have someone around. And she reacted well for a human when he took her hand and tried to get her to go back to the ocean. Clearly she thought he was insane but went with it until they got in deep enough where the current was strong. That's when he had to pull her under, to show her. At that point there was no going back and he wondered if he should regret saving her.
He was surprised by how inhuman she seemed. Humans were stupid, innocent, gullible creatures–at least all the ones he'd known. But as they talked on their way to the palace he realized she knew–she knew things most humans just couldn't get, and even things most of his own people didn't see.
That was nice for a change.
"That must've been hard," he said in reply to when she mentioned her father. She nodded.
"What's your name?" She asked, her blue eyes looking right through him.
"Henri."
She frowned. "But thats so....human."
"We may live under water but we aren't aliens... wait, what's your name?"
"Karis."
"Oh, and I'm the one with the weird name."
"Yeah..." she didn't seem to know how to respond. A shadow had fallen over her face again, and he assumed it was from remembering something about her past.
"So, where are you taking me?" Karis asked, breaking the silence. "You save me from drowning, almost drown me, save me from drowning again, for....for what? Why?"
"I saved you the first time because I was watching you on the ledge. Most people don't cliff dive when it's that cold."
"It's always that cold." She pointed out in a flat tone.
"Well you weren't coming up for air, so, I don't know. It's against our law to save humans but I hate watching people die." He took a deep breath, and he imagined there must've been a shadow on his own face. "And since you saw me use my powers for you to breathe, well...you also noticed I wasn't wet. If anyone found out then we'd both be toast-"
"If anyone found out..." she hesitated. "But won't bringing me here make them find out?" He looked at her as they traveled beneath the waves, seaweed and fish flying by them. He had created an air bubble around them and the water parted to his will.
"You didn't let me finish. If anyone found out we'd both be toast unless I brought you with me. That's the law. Sorry to break it to you but you're going to have to stay down here." She gasped.
"But I can't even swim! Where would I live? You're making me live my life in bubble? Literally!"
"I warned you," Henri said with a shrug. "I risked being in so much trouble to let you stay but you chose not to. Besides, you haven't seen the city yet."
"But-"
"You're not going to live your life in a bubble, Karis. You'll see what I mean."

...

Twenty minutes earlier

This guy's a maniac, Karis thought when they got shoulder deep in the water and she started to panic.
"I can't do this," she gasped, trying to stay afloat even with the strong current and waves.
"I thought you just did," he said, ignoring her comment. She shivered. He was perfectly dry and she was soaked in cold Washington water. Why am I such an idiot, she thought.
She struggled to stay next to him but each wave almost pushed her under as they got deeper. She prepared to jump up as the next wave came but when she put her feet forward she only felt seaweed. She yelped and went under.

Him having to literally hold her the next fifty or sixty feet was definitely embarrassing, but worth not drowning again. She could still feel how raw her lungs were. She didn't know how he managed to keep both of them afloat so easily through the strong current but eventually assumed he was a really good swimmer.
Until they went under. She screamed as he pulled them under the ever growing waves, and expected to get a mouthful of water but instead only air.
"What the-" she trailed off. They were under water, yes, but they weren't drowning.
"I'd figured you'd be used to this now," he chuckled as the current pulled them forward, a bubble of air surrounding their faces and most of their chests. Is that how he...rescued me? She wondered, but didn't ask.
"Okay," The guy, who introduced himself as Henri, added hesitantly, "we're here."

The underwater city was beautiful, to say the least. Cobblestone streets with neatly planted seaweed and underwater flowers of different colors and kinds. Small houses with air trapped inside, some sort of magic keeping the air in when windows and doors were opened up. Laundry tied to the brightly colored tiles of the roof for the current to wash them out. Lamps with something like a fire, that didn't seem to run out of oxygen despite the small pocket of air it had. People with sea shells in their hair and tiny fish following them.
Except some people had mermaid-like tails. And some people didn't have bubbles of air to breathe.
"What is this?" Karis gasped, taking it all in. A few people waved to Henri, some bowed.
"Serenova, the underwater capital of Washington," Henri smiled. Karis almost smiled back but stopped herself. The bright and cheery colors of the city only reminded her why her dress was black.
"So where are we going?"
"Oh, the palace."