Of Fangs & Fins ✔

50. All in your head

SR: Joji - Bitterfuck

Fifty.

Marina.

Blue lights reflected from the bottom of the pool floor. I watched as the light shifted over the small waves on the surface. It was peaceful, but it could never match Aqueria. A distinctive flow resided in the waves, speaking to all of us and different in every kingdom. Aqueria had its own mark upon the world.

I stripped to my undergarments, standing at the edge of the pool. I glanced at the doors, making sure I locked them. Chris said the compound didn't mind if I used their pool to myself on Mondays. I was the only mermaid in the building, I suppose that came with special privileges. The only condition was that I hear their plans for a more 'equal' council.

I already knew what they wanted from me. They wanted to grant me a place on the Consul Board. How could I when my kingdom didn't trust the Consul? They were ruled by demons and only replaced by demons.

If I thought vampires were ruthless, demons were all the worse. Our blood is used to summon demons. Countless reports of demons getting summoned and killing humans who have no idea what they're getting into. Witches getting mixed up on the wrong side, using our blood for their profit. It was all because of us.

If we stayed in the ocean, none of this would have happened. I could almost hear my dad words in my head. Our yearning to travel, to explore new things to us, it trumped everything else. We'd always have to be careful. And here I was, the biggest hypocrite of them all.

If I didn't have to come out here, my friends wouldn't have been caught. Lucinda wouldn't have taken them. Eryn wouldn't get mixed up in my blood, she'd be fine if I wasn't here. Lance... his arm would still be intact. I knew that he didn't blame me, but whenever he struggled with it, I couldn't help but feel bad. All of this was because I was the cause.

I dove into the water and shed the rest of my clothes, throwing them on the floor above me. Even with the chlorine, the water felt good, the cold temperature soothing the incessant heat coating my skin. Walking on land always felt as if I was on fire, especially if I waited too long in-between shifting.

If I wasn't here, I would've never met Hades.

The thought occurred to me randomly as I shifted immediately into my fins. My legs melded together and I swam deeper into the pool, hitting the ground of it. I sucked in water in gulps through my neck and instantly my heartbeat slowed down, relaxing me. I closed my eyes, ignoring how the chlorine burned them slightly. That was unpleasant.

Nerissa told me that's why she didn't join the swim team when she went to college. The chlorine irritated her too much, and she didn't like the idea of training and going to meets. She preferred to socialize from what I remember her telling me.

I always looked forward to the times she'd came to the boathouse on the weekends and tell me all about her adventures. She kept out all the vampire stuff, but I wish she hadn't. Perhaps then meeting Eryn and Hades would be different.

I opened my eyes and stared upward. The rafters of the room were dark enough that it reminded me of what Aqueria's sky looked like. It was darkness, illuminated by the world around it. There was light in darkness. I swam upward and broke the surface of the pool. As I broke through, red came across my vision.

"Hades," I breathed, my eyes slightly widened. I remembered I did lock that door. Of course, locks aren't a good defense against a thousand-year-old vampire.

She crouched at the edge of the pool, watching with me a hunger in her eyes that called out to me.

I swam closer and placed my fingers on the edge, centimeters away from her shoes.