Paralian

Chapter 4

The hour is well past midnight when you leave the barracks.

Kelp rises from the sea floor, waving in the current beneath you as you swim. You and your father have not spoken since the ill-fated Council meeting but by now, this isn't a surprise. Your father rarely has time for a daughter outside of his responsibilities running the country.

Hoseok waits for you just beyond the arch, on the outskirts of the main city center. There are few about at this hour, which makes your exit relatively simple. Stick to the shadows. Move slowly and once you are certain no one follows, take off for the shallows.

You don't tell unit nine what you're doing. It isn't because you think they wouldn't understand – after the raid on the Paralian ship, you know that they would. It's more that you don't know what you're doing and until you do, you'd prefer to contain the risk to yourself. Regardless of what Hoseok said earlier, your father's words continue to ring in your mind.

Hoseok swims alongside, waiting until the city is out of sight before speaking. "So," he says, glancing at your expression. "What's the plan?"

You find yourself unsure how to respond. Hoseok doesn't know about Jungkook. He only knows you left the fight to save a human; he doesn't know the whole story, nor who Jungkook is. Once he does, you aren't sure how he'll react.

Hoseok is always your voice of reason – occasionally to a fault.

Warily, you cast your gaze sideways. "Hoseok... I still haven't told you everything about the night you were injured."

"Ah." Hoseok considers. "Are you finally going to tell me who you rescued?" He chuckles at your surprised reaction. "Oh, come on, Y/N. You think I didn't notice?"

With a half-hearted shrug, you slow. You're far enough now from the city that there's little chance of running into a patrol.

"I don't know," you admit. "It felt simpler to keep the secret to myself."

Hoseok seems skeptical. "Yeah, sure. So, who was it?"

Again, you hesitate.

"Y/N."

You heave a great sigh. "The Prince of Pirates saved my life during the fight."

This shuts Hoseok up. He looks at you in surprise, clearly not understanding. "I – he what? The Prince of Pirates?" Hoseok says wonderingly. "Why in the depths would he do that?"

"I don't know," you say, equally at a loss. "It was during the fight. I saw the Captain of the ship escaping and I went after him. Er, alone."

Hoseok stifles a groan. "Y/N, that was dangerous. You shouldn't have done that."

"I know." Flicking your fin, you wave his objection aside. "I know I shouldn't have, but I did. The Captain was hiding a gun."

"Y/N!"

"He shot before I could react," you recall, remembering the awful feeling of helplessness. "That was when the Pirate Prince shoved me out of the way. The bullet hit him instead and in the chaos which followed, the Captain pushed him overboard."

Hoseok seems appalled by this. "What a lecherous ass. Still – I see it, now. You felt indebted to the human."

"Partly," you say, still hesitant.

It was more than gratitude which led you to leap over the edge, but you don't know how to explain. The sea around you grows darker, a cold stretch before the shallows of land. There's nothing of consequence in these waters, though. Nothing between you and the shore.

Hoseok makes a humming noise in his throat. "What else?"

Surprised, you glance over. "What do you mean?"