Chapter five
Aurora POV cont.
"What are you doing here?" My face hardened with anger, irritation burning from the betrayal of my best friend.
"I'm sorry, Aurora. I… I never meant to hurt you. I was—" she stuttered.
"But that's not the point," Merissa suddenly said. "You have to escape. Now." She pushed the door open wide, and that was when I noticed the guards were unconscious.
My eyes widened, wondering what she had done.
"I had no choice," she added quickly. "I can't let you end up like this against your will, all because of me."
I stared at her in shock. I never expected that from Merissa.
"You have to leave now. Go and meet your grandmother at the neighboring sea," she instructed urgently.
I hesitated for a minute.
"But why are you doing this for me? The king won't forgive you," I said, stunned.
"To show you how truly sorry I am," she replied softly. "I don't care what the king does, as long as my friend is safe."
Something in me softened for a minute.
"Go now," she whispered. "Before it's too late."
I hesitated only for a second before grabbing the chance. I glanced at Merissa one last time before swimming away. The betrayal still hurt deep in my chest, but escaping the king mattered more.
I swam as fast as I could.
But it was as if the goddess wasn't by my side. Soon, I was being chased by sea sirens.
"Catch her! She must not escape! It's the king's order!"
Fear gripped me. I worried Merissa would be captured by the guards and punished for this. I glanced back to check if she hadn't been captured yet—
But that was when I saw it.
She wasn't. Instead… there was a smirk on her face. A triumphant smile.
That was when it hit me.
She wasn't helping me escape… it was a trap.
She set me up, implicating me,making the king despise me even more.
I swam faster. I mustn't be caught. I must not fall into her trap.
But soon arrows came flying after me. One struck my body, but I didn't stop. I kept swimming, fighting for my life. My vision blurred as pain spread through me.
My body grew tense, weak—but I refused to give up.
Suddenly, something caught my gaze.
It was something different….Legs.
Those pairs of legs told me it was a human.
A human?
Humans didn't dare to reach this depth of the sea.
She looked like she was battling for her life, struggling to lift her head to breathe, but no matter how much she struggled, she couldn't.
I wanted to ignore her. I had my own battle to fight.
But I couldn't.
Something inside me urged me to save her.
I swam closer, trying to pull her toward the shore, but the sirens had already locked onto me. More arrows pierced the water, striking me mercilessly as if I was their enemy.
I cried out in pain, shielding the fragile human in my arms.
Then a massive wave rose. I struggled to keep my balance, steadying myself while protecting the fragile creature.
It was too much—controlling the waves and saving her. I almost let go but she suddenly whimpered weakly, "Help me."
Her voice was full of pain, and something in my heart shattered.
I could no longer let go.
With my last strength, I dragged her toward the shore, but it was as if the heavens had other plans, the sea raged again. The wave crashed into us.
I tried to hold on, but my fingers slipped, and slowly, I lost consciousness.
***
A strange, strong smell filled my senses.
My eyes immediately snapped open, but everything felt wrong. Dry. Unfamiliar.
It seemed like I had escaped the sirens, the king, Merissa but something was missing.
The water. The soft touch of water.
There was no gentle touch of the sea, no fish circling me.
What the hell is going on?
"Miss, Are you okay? Are you awake?" A strange voice startled me.
Miss?
I immediately sat up, and that was when everything worsened.
A human stood in front of me. I wasn't in the sea.
I stared blankly. Is this a dream? Am I dreaming again?
"Are you feeling any pain?" the voice asked.
It didn't seem like a dream.
"Where… where am I?" I whispered.
"You were drowning. Luckily a man saved you and rushed you here."
Drowning?
Then it hit me. It was really the human world.
I immediately jumped to my feet, my legs shaking from the unfamiliar feeling.
Legs?
I looked down. It was really a pair of legs, not my tail.
My tail was gone.
"What's going on here? I'm supposed to be in the sea, not here. What have you done to me?" I cried out.
"I'm supposed to be in the sea—not here!" I screamed
That was when I saw it. A mirror—clearer than any coral mirror I'd ever seen under the sea. Something from it caught my attention.
I moved closer, my jaw slackening as I stared at my reflection.
The face staring back at me wasn't mine.
It was hers.
The human I tried to save in the sea.
I slapped myself twice, thinking I would snap out of whatever trance I had fallen into, but it wasn't working. Instead, it hurt.
That was when it hit me.
We… swapped souls?
I had only heard such tales from our folk. I never thought it would happen to me.
I screamed.
But another thought followed. At least I escaped.
At least I was free, from the sea, from the king, from Merissa's betrayal. And I was in the human world I had always dreamed of.
The brightly lit place made my face flushed even more red. This must be a chance.
"Thank you, goddess," I whispered. "I promise to be better."
Suddenly, the door opened, and another human rushed in. This time It was a man.
"Finally, I reached her husband!" he revealed.
The human in the white coat sighed in relief. "Good thing you did."
I blinked. Husband?
Married… to a human?
The thought felt strange—but thrilling.
"This is the man who saved you," the Human in the white coat added.
"I'm glad you are safe, Madam Estelin," the man smiled at me. He didn't look familiar, but strangely, he looked at me like he knew me—like we were acquaintances.
Suddenly, his smile faded. Confusion flickered across his face as if he noticed something odd.
"W-who are you?" I asked bluntly.
He froze.
"It's me, Noah—your driver. You… you can see?"
I scoffed. "Was I supposed to be blind or something?"
He looked completely flustered.
Suddenly, something vibrated loudly in his hands startling me a bit. It was a small strange device.
He stared at it. "It's for you. Your husband wants to speak to you. I need to talk to the doctor."
Before I could ask more questions, he rushed out running after the human in the white coat leaving me all alone.
The strange object in my hands kept ringing.
I blinked, not knowing what to do with it, but one part of me told me to drag the dangling thing to one corner. After all, he said my husband wanted to speak to me… my human husband.
My face immediately flushed at the thought again. So I did. I dragged the dangling thing and placed the device closer to my ears, and immediately a voice came through, loud and clear.
However it was different from what I was expecting, it wasn't a sweet husbandly voice I was expecting. Instead It was dark, threatening, and commanding.
"How dare you ruin the contract I had been building?! Drowning, huh? You did that thinking I would let you off the hook? I won't hesitate to break you into pieces, you filthy dog. And that man—you are definitely going back to satisfy him. Now get back home before I come over there to drag you home and show you what drowning really is!"
Anger exploded inside me. I didn't know where it came from, but it consumed me completely.
"WHO THE HELL ARE YOU, ASSHOLE?!" I yelled.