Sawyer's eyes opened slowly.
He expected pain, chains, or cold wooden planks beneath him.
But instead, he felt warmth — soft sand beneath his palms, a flickering blue glow around him, and the distant sound of rushing water echoing through stone.
The air was different here. Humid, sweet, full of the scent of sea and something almost floral.
He sat up.
They were in a cove. But not just any cove — it was hidden beneath the cliffs, carved deep into the land, only accessible through tunnels swallowed by the sea. Bioluminescent moss glowed faintly on the cavern walls, and soft pools reflected the light like mirrors.
It didn't feel like the real world. It felt older.
Sacred.
And standing at the edge of a saltwater pool… was Syrena.
Alive.
And more radiant than he had ever seen her.
She wore a thin sea-blue cloth wrapped around her form, hair damp and curling at her waist, and her bare feet left no mark in the sand. Her eyes shimmered faintly — not human, not fully.
He stared at her, lips parting, but nothing came out.
She turned, as if sensing his thoughts before he spoke. "You're awake."
"You're alive," he rasped, sitting fully upright. "How—?"
"I never died," she said softly, walking toward him. "Not really."
He swallowed hard. "Syrena… what are you?"
She sat beside him. And for once, she didn't dodge the truth.
"I'm a siren," she whispered. "A mermaid. The princess of my kind."
He didn't flinch. He didn't laugh or call her mad. He only listened — eyes locked to hers.
"My father… is the Ocean itself," she said. "Not a man. Not even a creature. The ocean is alive, Sawyer, and I am its daughter."
She paused, gathering her thoughts.
"Years ago, pirates dumped cursed treasure into our waters. Sangre Dorada. I was young, curious, and I touched it. I took a single coin." She opened her palm, revealing the same gold coin he'd once seen her look at too long.
"Instantly, I was cursed. Trapped on land. My powers — severed. I could no longer return to my form. No tail. No song. I became… one of you. The only way to break the curse is to return what I took — all of it — and offer my blood."
Sawyer stared, jaw tight. "You lied to me."
"I know," she said gently. "And I hated it every time I did."
"Why not tell me the truth?" His voice cracked — somewhere between betrayal and relief.
"Because if I had," she said, "you'd have looked at me like something else. Not like you did… not like a person. I needed to find the gold. I thought I could do it alone. Then I met you."
He closed his eyes. Ran a hand through his hair. "I thought you were gone."
"I came back for you," she said softly.
He looked at her again. "So when this curse breaks… when you return the gold… what then?"
Syrena glanced at the pool, her voice barely above a whisper. "Then I return to the sea. Fully. My tail. My power. My world."
Sawyer swallowed hard. "And me?"
"You'll be of the sea, too. But not like me."
She smiled, bittersweet.
"We'll be in the same world, but not the same life."
There was silence.
Then, he reached out, slowly, placing his rough hand over hers. "I don't care what you are. I just need to know one thing…"
Her eyes met his.
"Will I see you again?"
She looked at him — at the man who'd nearly died for her, who'd never once truly known who she was but trusted her anyway — and smiled through the tears she didn't let fall.
"What could possibly separate a pirate and a siren," she whispered, "but a bit of water?"