The Cursed Mermaid

Chapter 9: the sea kingdom | Nam

I was sure that it would've taken ages before I drifted off to sleep. I didn't believe that I would be able to rest so easily, since I now had a shamrock green tail, I was breathing underwater, and I was completely out of my comfort zone.

I didn't even look like me anymore. My horn was gone, and my eyes had gone dull. They were the two things that marked me as a Dorlae boy. Without them, what was I?

The potion had taken away my identity. I couldn't deny that it affected me, because it did, but the others had it worse. Kameron was blind, and Cailyn was deaf.

Yet the minute I lay on the sandy floor and closed my eyes, I fell asleep almost instantly, comforted by the warmth of the flickering fire that Justina conjured up. However, when I woke, the grey eyed girl was attempting to restart her fire, which made me doubt whether she'd actually gotten any sleep.

"Justina," I murmured sleepily. "What are you doing?"

She didn't glance over. "Making sure everyone is warm." She did spare a fleeting look at her soulmate before focusing on her fire - well, technically nothing, since she was unsuccessful in starting one.

I pushed myself up onto my elbows, still blinking sleep away from my eyes. "Don't exert yourself. You only managed to do it last time by absorbing extra energy."

"I'm fine," she gritted her teeth, but her voice sounded exhausted. I suddenly felt bad, knowing that she'd probably stayed awake, tending to the fire, until everyone was asleep. That would've been ages of utilizing her power. Her magic must be worn out, if anything. It was harmful to continue.

"Don't," I said gently. "Just rest." Offhandedly, I added, "Without a spark, a flame will never burn."

She rolled her eyes.

"What? I like creating edgy quotes."

"That's not an edgy quote," Penny's voice sounded, startling both of us, although Justina barely flinched. "That is the truth. How can you start a fire without the spark?"

Kameron, who had sat up when Penny had started talking, burst out laughing halfway through her yawn. "God, Penny. Is everyone awake?"

Arya blinked at them all sleepily. She ran a hand through her ginger hair, making a face at the knots she encountered. "I think so?"

"Not this one," Justina scooted over to Cailyn, and roughly shook the grey and purple haired girl awake. "Dude. Get up." When Cailyn didn't respond, she sighed. "Give her a few minutes."

By the time Cailyn had decided to rise, Arya and Kameron had brought back shrimps in Kameron's backpack that they'd caught whilst exploring the seabed. Some of the crustaceans were still alive, which bothered me, but I quickly pushed the thought away. We had to eat, after all.

"Can we put them over the fire?" Penny asked eagerly, ignoring Brendan's scoff at her childlike attitude.

Arya wrinkled her nose. "You want to burn shrimps?"

"You've never had barbecued - " Kameron broke off. "No, of course you haven't. They taste better than you think. Trust." She started taking shrimps out of her backpack and holding them over the fire. Arya cringed, but didn't look away as she watched Kameron with fascination.

Everyone ate shrimps - even Justina, who begrudgingly ate one (because Cailyn had forced her. She'd claimed she wasn't hungry, plus she hated seafood, but her soulmate wouldn't take no for an answer).

We didn't linger, since Arya was adamant in returning to her kingdom as soon as we possibly could. However, it was hard to motivate everyone to move quickly, since the instant Justina put out her fire, we all shivered from the cold.