Eclipse

Chapter 36

Eclipse's POV

I swam with Kaito and her dads back towards where they lived. Her fathers gave me polite thanks for helping their daughter before leaving us be. Kaito wrapped some of her hair around her finger before clearing her throat.

"Uh. Thanks for helping. I couldn't have gotten my dads back without your help. So. I guess you can go." She said. I tilted my head before smiling slightly.

"What does your singing voice sound like?" I asked curiously. Kaito blushing and shaking her head.

"Oh... just, like everyone else's.." She said. Clearly lying. I inched closer with a hum.

"Oh? Well, you said your dads' voices are special. So I don't know what everyone else's sounds like."

"Then go ask a siren to sing for you."

"You could sing for me, and I'd accept it as a thanks." I said with a small smile. Kaito looked away before huffing.

"It's no fair you're so smart. Fine. I can't sing." She said with a sigh. I looked at her a bit surprised.

"You can't sing?"

"No."

"Like, you're tone-deaf?"

"No, I mean I literally can't sing."

"Why not?"

"It's a long story. And in short, it ends with my singing voice gone."

"I see.."

"Yeah. Sad story huh." She said a bit sarcastically. I smiled faintly and shook my head.

"Well. If my dad has taught me anything, it's that not all stories have happy endings." I said, Kaito shrugging and nodding in agreement.

"I think that more stories end sadly than happily ever after. Even when they end 'happily', there's always some sort of stupid catch." She said. I shrugged before looking around.

"Want to go to the surface?"

"Why."

"I don't know. Ever been up there at night?"

"No."

"Well you just have to now, c'mon." I said, waving my hand and gesturing for her to follow me. She looked a bit hesitant before following me up the surface and onto the shore. We both changed so we had our legs before finding a spot on the sandy ground to sit. Kaito seemed amazed by the colors of the sky as the sun began to set.

"This your first sunset??" I asked curiously, Kaito nodding with a small smile.

"Yeah. My dads pretty much never let me come to the surface. They were afraid I'd be captured or I'd get lost. So. I've only lived in the deep water all these years. I didn't even know that such colors existed together." She said, admiring the mixing of the red and oranges. And a few streaks of purple too.

Once the sun set, she stared in amazement at all the stars. Guessing that she's never come up here at night either. 

"Hey, do you want to hear a story about the sky?" I asked, Kaito glancing at me before nodding. I smiled, telling her the story that my father used to tell me all the time. The one about where I got my name. Kaito laughed faintly when I finished the story, a sigh leaving her lips.

"See? Sad ending." She muttered. I shrugged, laying back and stretching out in the sand. Kaito laughed, making me curious.

"What're you laughing at."

"You got a someone in your hair." She said. I blinked, reaching up and picking something up. I laughed as well, seeing that a little crab had gotten tangled in my hair. 

"Aw, sorry buddy did I lay down on you?" I asked, Kaito helping me untangle the little critter before I set him down and watched him scuttle off. Kaito smiled faintly, watching the crab go as well.

"So. You really like animals huh?" 

"Mhm. They're so sweet." She said, making me smile. I sat up before humming.

"Ever seen a horse?"

"What is that?"

"Come on, follow me."

Kaito's POV

Eclipse led me to another nearby village. People seemed to greet her happily, despite everything here looking like a complete mess. 

"Woah.. what happened here?" I asked, Eclipse saying that she'd explain it to me another time. She walked with me to a large wooden building that looked like it was in the process of being fixed. A young man smiled at Eclipse, walking off and returning with some sort of large creature.

"Is this a horse?" I asked, slowly reaching out to touch it. Eclipse nodded, showing me how to pet it properly. I marveled at the texture. It wasn't smooth, or slimy or scaly. It felt soft and warm.

"This is Jean Jr."

"Oh??"

"Uh huh. My dad owned a horse a long time ago named Jean."

"What happened to Jean?"

"Well, he was an adult when my dad had him years ago. When we moved, my dads paid to have him bred. And thats when we got this guy!"

"How old is this one?"

"I wanna say 10 years old." She said, making me nod. I smiled, quite enjoying petting the horse. He was big, but he was also adorable. Eclipse walked off and soon returned with something in her hand.

"Here, you can feed him a sugar cube." she said, placing the treat in my palm. Eclipse instructed me to hold it flat in my palm and hold my hand out in front of Jean Jr. I did so, laughing when the horse ate the sugar cube. His lips were weirdly soft, but the hairs on his face tickled my hand.

I spent a bit more time visiting the horse, and even being allowed to see the baby ones that I guess were called foals and colts. It was very enjoyable, but I suppose I should be headed home. Plus, I wanted to see my dads after everything that happened. Eclipse walked with me back to the shore, waving goodbye as I went back into the water and returned home.

I swam into the building that my dads claimed as theirs, smiling faintly to see them both. They gave me hugs before pulling away, my red-haired dad sighing.

"You were really brave today. And reckless. But I'm glad. It saved your dad and I."

"Heh, thanks dad. I'm just glad that I found you. And just in time it seemed huh?"

"Got that right. By the way. Who was that mermaid you were with."

"Oh, just a friend. She did help me a lot."

"Well. She must have for you to ask us to save her."

"Dad, I know how you guys both feel about mermaids, but she isn't so bad. Maybe they aren't?" I said, my dad just shaking his head. I sighed, just accepting another hug from him. Despite what my dad thought, at least I knew that not all mermaids and humans were bad.