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Kai

EIGHT MONTHS AGO

“ F reechia!”

Her vivid, urchin purple hair brushed past me as she swam by, heading in the complete opposite direction. “Can’t talk now, big brother!” she called out over her shoulder, gliding further away with every vigorous swish of her tailfin. “I’m meeting up with Laverne. You know how bothered she gets when I keep her waiting!”

“What about your studies?” I whipped around, following the gray streak of her tail. She wasn’t even going toward the sea lion beach. “You ate something, right? Hey! Freech—” My heart sank because, in the span of a blink, not even the faintest glow from Freechia’s eyes was visible. She was already gone.

“Oh, no…” Our father was not going to be pleased. Being that I was the closest sibling to Freechia’s age, it was my duty to look after her. That was my only duty, really, and I couldn’t even manage it well.

“I guess that’s that, then,” I said, throwing up my hands. Like most days, I’d been pursuing her since before the early feast horns. Once I finished doing her hair for the day, that was it. She stayed at least a tail’s length ahead of me from then on.

If she was meeting Laverne this far from the other sea lions, it meant they were embarking on another one of their thrilling hunts. Which also meant she wouldn’t be back until well into the night.

I grimaced. This marked the third consecutive day I hadn’t ensured Freechia was present for her lessons. How likely was it that our father would finally disown me and turn me into food for his stingrays?

I swam at a slow pace, mulling over what to say when I returned. Sorry, Father, she was just too quick for me! Yeah, that excuse never worked. I was as good as fish chum.

King Darias had high expectations for his daughter, but I couldn’t blame him. Freechia was, after all, the Pacific’s one and only princess. She was a wild, spirited young mermaid with a talent for hunting and tracking that surpassed even Laverne’s skills. And that was saying something. He favored her, maybe even more so than any of my brothers, which made it all the more surprising that he trusted me to look after her.

“Yep, I’m done for,” I groaned, contemplating whether I should bother returning for today’s lessons. They were mainly for Freechia’s benefit, anyway. Not mine.

Sure, Father had begrudgingly permitted me to join in the lessons as well, but I wasn’t a fool. I understood he was just using Freechia’s affection for me to persuade her to attend them.

My gaze drifted, scanning the vast expanse of my father’s ocean. The sea stone outcrop stood nearby, didn’t it?

Despite my growing reluctance, I couldn’t help but be drawn in the outcrop’s direction. I made a wide arc around the sea stones, scratching at the back of my neck as I thought.

Lessons awaited me today, even if Freechia wasn’t around to share them. But what was the harm in taking some time for myself, just this once?

The stones sure were tempting…

“Ah, it’ll be fine!” Excitement built inside me as I took off, darting toward the cluster of sea stones.

These stones were everything to me—the perfect vantage point to spy on the distant land. The only place where the rocks were so wide and numerous that you could breach the surface without fear of being seen from below.

It was a perilous secret. One that could cost me dearly, and yet, despite the risks, I couldn’t resist returning.

Slowly, I eased myself up onto one of the safer rocks, my belly grazing its rugged surface until?—

There it was. Land .

“ Whoa. ” As usual, the sight stole all my words and melted all my worries. It was a completely different world from the one I knew.

My heart thumped wildly, threatening to break free from the tight wrap of ocean silks encircling my ribcage.

And it wasn’t just land. There were also humans playing around a strange, flickering phenomenon I sometimes saw on the beach at night. “Awesome,” I murmured.

Ribbons of orange and red sat over the sand, dancing like magic, captivating every human in its presence just as it captivated me.

I couldn’t believe it—the sun was still up, and yet it gleamed in broad daylight. I’d always thought these phenomena only came out at night, but this… this was amazing!

Movement and laughter surrounded that sparkling red glow, drawing me in. Nothing could tear my eyes away from that shore. As usual, the humans I admired so much ran and played, completely carefree and oblivious to my presence.

Temptation knotted up my insides, thinning the air reaching my lungs and pulling at the strings of my heart. “Oh, what I wouldn’t give…” I whispered, letting the wind steal the wish straight from my lips.

I was too old for silly wishes. And yet…

The humans tossed in lengthy sticks and debris, filling the air with crackling sounds as the red ribbons grew and grew, and I smiled along with them.

I’d be good at that. Using my legs to run up and down the beach, finding more sticks to feed to that red glow. I’d do it all day long and never get tired.

I was still lost in that perfect thought, savoring every detail of the land before me, when a smooth voice interrupted my daydream. “Humans. Interesting creatures, are they not?”

Startled, I spun around to find sharp cheekbones and piercing eyes. Streams of black draped over a neighboring rock, trailing from the figure before me.

“Building a fire on a day such as this,” the stranger said carefully, his smile holding a mischievous charm I wasn’t used to seeing directed at me.

My face flushed because he’d caught me in a place I shouldn’t be—above the surface. Pacific mers were forbidden from ever touching open air. “Wait… Did you say ‘fire’ ?” My heart jumped at the thrill. That was what the glowing phenomenon was called?

“Indeed, I did,” he said through unusually pale lips.

His dark, sprawling limbs were unlike anything I’d ever seen in the Pacific. And his eyes—whoa, were they white?

Whatever color they were, they sure were fascinating. Too fascinating for him to be one of my father’s creations. “You’re a cecaelia?” I asked, unable to keep from staring at his tentacles. I’d only ever seen them depicted in carvings, but the walls of the ruins hadn’t done their curling lengths justice at all.

The stranger smiled, flashing a polished set of blunt teeth. “How very observant of you. And you’re a merman, are you not?”

He pulled up on the rocks, and all I could do was nod, momentarily too caught up in his presence to form words of my own. His chest was completely uncovered, and his smooth, pale skin seemed to go on for leagues, narrowing to where tentacles formed at his hips.

Heat engulfed my face. How… How was he able to go around like that?

Even without the ocean silks that concealed me, my features were nowhere near as striking as his. Flowing black tentacles and skin so pale it seemed to glow in the sunlight.

The stranger’s head cocked, his white eyes drilling into me as he shamelessly displayed his body for anyone to see. “I see my form is of great interest to you, merman.”

I tore my gaze away, feeling another rush of heat to my face.

“I—it’s just...” My mouth wouldn’t work. I cleared my throat, hoping to start again. “W-what brings you to the Pacific?”

He slinked off his perch to move to an even closer sea stone, half of his tentacles dipping into the water below. “I’ve been watching you for some time now,” he proclaimed in a voice as smooth and whorling as a volute shell.

My heartbeat skipped. “Watching me? But why?” I wondered aloud.

The answer soon dawned on me, and my spirit plummeted. “Oh. You must have mistaken me for one of my brothers.”

His low chuckle sent a shiver racing down my tail. “Don’t underestimate my perception. I’ve never mistaken one creature for another. Your brothers may share some of your physical traits, but they don’t possess your insatiable curiosity, Kaius.”

All I could do was blink at him, amazed. This cecaelia knew who I was? “It’s just Kai,” I said finally, rubbing the base of my neck. No one called me by my full name—no one except my mother, and she always made it sound like an insult.

“Kai,” he repeated. The glint in his eyes was fierce and focused, taking in every detail. He drew even closer, his tentacles gracefully coiling around the sea stone. “You intrigue me, Kai. How about we strike a deal, you and I?”

Strike a deal… Did he mean like a game? “What sort of deal?”

There was a playful curl at the corners of his mouth as he leaned against the stone. “I happen to possess an ability that I think will interest you. Satisfy that curiosity of yours. Maybe it could even give you a taste of something new. You’ve always wanted to walk on land, have you not?”

I was utterly taken aback. Walking on land wasn’t a game—certainly not a safe one. “N-no, I’m sorry,” I stammered. I couldn’t. My father, the king, had forbidden it.

The cecaelia’s white eyes sparkled with mischief. “Let me guess—you wonder what the terms of our deal shall be? Simple. I grant you the ability to reach land without being seen. In return, all I ask is that you share with me a piece of that which eludes you.” He glanced toward the shore. “That which I want but lack the means to take for myself.”

“What do you mean?” I followed his gaze to where the red phenomenon burned brightly on the distant shore. “The thing you called fire? Is that what you want?”

“Fire is quite extraordinary, is it not?” he murmured, his voice filled with a fascination that resonated with my heart. “The oceans may be vast, but you won’t find anything like fire down here.”

He was right. This fire , as he called it… it was extraordinary.

The stranger turned back to me, one of his tentacles flexing. “Wouldn’t it be nice to experience the warmth of a fire for yourself? To feel the heat on your dry skin, your legs? I could give you that. I could grant you the one thing you need to reach the shore.”

I could experience walking on legs?

Legs were a dream I never thought could come true. But no one in my father’s ocean was allowed on land, and there were too many risks involved to even consider trying.

“Why not just take it for yourself?” I asked when I finally found the strength to let go of the idea of walking on legs. “You don’t need me. Unless there’s a law that says that cecaelia can’t go on land.”

His smile faltered, his eyes glinting with a touch of darkness. “There are... complications. I may not be bound by a law, but I am bound by my queen’s will.” He drew a hand through his hair, forcing the wet tangles back from his pale face. “I must always be working, you see, which leaves me little time to satisfy my own curiosities.”

I frowned, realizing that I could understand what it was like to be limited by someone else’s will. “So, does that mean you’re working right now?”

His grin returned. “Indeed I am. I’m currently surveying the Pacific Ocean, where I spotted a curious prince who seems to be remiss of his king’s laws.”

I sank down on my rock. So, he knew of my father’s laws, then.

“Don’t be alarmed, Kai. I have no intention of revealing your secret. Letting my presence be known to your king couldn’t be further from my mind. I merely thought we could be of some use to one another.” He chuckled. “So, what do you say? Shall we make a deal?”

A rush of fear inside me met a flutter of excitement. “Do you really know of a way I can make it to shore without being seen?” I whispered. Being seen would mean certain death, even if I was technically a prince. I knew better than to think my father would spare me. “Creatures loyal to my father patrol these waters. Every mer knows that if they try to approach land, they’ll be caught before they even breach the surface. Nothing gets past them.”

Because my father created them for that purpose , I barely kept to myself. It was a secret that no other seemed to realize, but I knew it.

“Oh, I’m well aware of your king’s patrol.” The cecaelia laughed, gesturing to himself. “But you’ll find I have ways of slipping past even the most keen-eyed creature. How else do you think I made it this deep into King Darias’s territory without being seen? I certainly didn’t fly here to greet you.”

That... was an interesting point. I cocked my head. Father was unlikely to allow a cecaelia into his waters. “But how?—?”

“I simply disappear,” he answered with a subtle grin.

Disappear? I knew some creatures could blend in with their surroundings, but to disappear completely? That was something else entirely.

He’d been right—my curiosity was piqued. “You mean no one can see you at all?”

Without warning, he snapped his fingers. A cloud of black smoke billowed around us, making me cough and hastily cover my mouth. When it cleared, I gasped. The sea stone where he’d been stood vacant, and only his voice remained. “My magic isn’t a skill that is easily mastered, but it’s certainly useful.”

There was a second snap, and there he was, lounging on the stone before me once more.

“So, Kai, what do you think? I can lend you some of my magic. But only enough to last you for an hour or so.” He paused to give me a moment for his proposal to sink in, his lips twitching with anticipation. “Just enough time for you to grow accustomed to your legs and fulfill your end of our deal. And if, by some stroke of luck, you were to have time left over... Well, feel free to enjoy it.”

His voice seeped through me like a fog, threatening to ensnare my better judgment until all I could think about was legs .

Legs that would allow me to walk among the humans. Legs that would let me explore the world beyond the borders of my father’s ocean.

My attention darted to the crackling red ribbons… the fire . Laughter from the distant humans sang to my ears, and a trembling hope rose in my chest. With this cecaelia’s magic, I could be one of them. Or, at the very least, I could pretend for an hour.

There was a desperate quiver in my voice as I asked, “Will they be able to see me?”

“Will it not be enough just to see them up close?” he uttered back.

It would be enough. It had to be. “I’ll do it,” I whispered, my heart overruling every rational thought in my mind. “I’ll bring you the fire. I… I accept your deal.”

With a flick of his wrists, the cecaelia produced a scroll in one hand and a flat shell in the other. “Good choice, Kai,” he praised, holding the shell out for me to take. “Here it is, the enchantment that will grant you invisibility—be sure not to lose it. When this oyster shell fully opens, your time will be up.” Gently, he placed the oyster in my palm, and the shell cracked open just the tiniest bit.

“Wait,” I stammered. Had the time already started?

Ignoring my objection, he unraveled the scroll in his hand. “All that’s left is your signature. Merely a precaution to ensure you keep to your end of our deal.”

My eyes darted anxiously between the contract and the partially opened shell, my chest pounding with each passing second. I needed to read the scroll’s every word; it looked to be a contract, after all, but my precious hour on land was already slipping away.

Feverishly, I skimmed over the words.

In agreement... these terms... offer up that which eludes... hereby binding and non-transferable... duration not to exceed two human hours...

Everything appeared to be in order, didn’t it? I’d never signed an official document. As ninth in line for the throne, I’d never had a need to.

“Where do I?—?”

“Here. On the dotted line,” he said, smoothly extending a pen.

“Oh! I see.” I hesitated for a moment. The gleaming, metallic tip of the pen in front of me was so different from the shell-carved implements I used for my studies. “I don’t have any, um...” My eyes dropped to the cecaelia’s tentacles as I remembered that his kind was said to hold a sac filled with ink. Would it be impolite to ask to borrow some of it as well?

His dark hair brushed against the back of his neck as his head shook. “Ah, I forgot to mention… This particular contract requires a signature in blood.”

A gulp caught in my throat. “ Blood? ”

“You’ll barely feel it,” he assured me. Without warning, his tentacle dipped, and the pen’s sharp tip pricked the center of my hand. My blood soaked into the pen readily. “Well? Go on.”

A sharp sting shot through my hand as I grasped the pen, but I convinced myself it was a small price to pay. I’d never dreamed I’d actually be able to experience land. It almost seemed too good to be true.

Kai Corentine. I marveled at how effortlessly the pen glided across the scroll as I signed my name.

“Uh— oops . Was I supposed to scribe my full name?”

The cecaelia hummed softly, taking a brief pause as though he were pondering the same question. “It seems this will do.” He took the pen for himself, and black smoke billowed from the end of it as my blood seemed to dissolve away.

Pain didn’t even register on his face as he pricked his own hand and signed underneath my signature.

Abyssal .

“Huh… that’s weird.” I scratched at the back of my neck as he carefully rolled up the scroll. “You don’t have a surname?”

“I consider myself fortunate to possess even a single name.” He chuckled darkly. “Well, Kai, the magic is yours. If you doubt my power’s capabilities, feel free to put it to the test.”

“No one will be able to see me?”

“Not until the oyster fully opens and the magic runs out. I can only see you now because it’s my magic that you’re using.”

A lump formed in my throat. Even now, no one could see me? “I’m really invisible?”

His grin spread. “Indeed, so tick-tock ,” he said, a gentle reminder I took to heart.

“I’ll—I’ll be back!” I sputtered out, the words not coming fast enough. “Don’t worry! I won’t forget about my end of our deal.”

“Oh, I trust you won’t,” he said, his slender fingers tapping against the sea rock. “Take care, now. Enjoy it.”

I would. I’d enjoy every second. With a surge of delight, I clutched hold of the oyster and slid from my rock, dropping into the water.

But before I headed toward land, I needed to test it.

Thankfully, I knew my father’s creations swam a perimeter along the shore, keeping his subjects in and the humans out. And it didn’t take long for me to spot a stingray swimming in an unusually straight line.

Coming to an abrupt stop right in its path, I waited. The ray made no attempt to change its course. I dipped at the last second, feeling the gentle wake as it swam directly over me.

The cecaelia was right—it hadn’t noticed me. I really was invisible, a freedom unlike anything I’d ever known.

With the thrill of this success coursing through me, I couldn’t wait any longer. My excitement bubbled up as I swam closer to where the humans lived, to the one place I could never go.

The shore.

And when I finally breached the surface, the world above exceeded anything I’d ever imagined.

Time stood still during that hour on land.

I chased that rush in every breath, every ripple of laughter, each one feeling more complete than the one before. When I felt the oyster almost fall flat against my palm, a bittersweet realization filled me—my time in this beautiful dream was nearing its end.

So, with a stick borrowed from what I learned was a bonfire , its tip ablaze with fire, I returned to my father’s ocean.

I couldn’t wait to tell Freechia and Laverne about everything—what I’d seen, the things I’d done, and the food I’d dared to sneak a taste of. They would be so jealous.

Okay, maybe not Laverne, but I was positive Freechia would be. Sure, she didn’t share my nonsensical fascination with humans, but she knew how much they intrigued me, and she enjoyed listening to the stories of my visits to the outcrop.

Even if I was no good at walking, legs were amazing. It was the most fun I’d ever had, and I had Abyssal to thank for it all.

Who would have thought that merfolk and cecaelia could help each other like this? Maybe he would need something else, and I could go to retrieve it for him again. Who knew? Maybe one day, we could even be friends .

My heart swelled, almost like it could burst in the next beat. I would like that. No, I would more than like it. I’d love to have a friend of my own, someone to share laughter with, just like Freechia did with Laverne every day. Like the groups of humans did on the shore.

But as I approached the outcrop, the sea stones stood strangely empty. “Hey, man. You there?”

Heat blanketed my arm as I worked through the stones, carefully holding the fire over the waves. “Abyssal?”

Where was he?

I made it to the center of the stones, and even the fire wasn’t enough to warm the chill that worked through me.

He wasn’t here.

A sudden sting hit my palm, and I glanced down just as the oyster crumbled. The swirling black mist slipped through my fingers. “W-what the…? Abyssal? ” I called again.

When there was no answer, I wedged the burning stick between two rocks and dove into the water.

Only… he wasn’t underwater, either.

The longer I swam, the more fear began to take root. Abyssal had said it was the fire he wanted, hadn’t he? I’d signed the contract. We’d made a deal. Only the more I thought about it, the more I realized I wasn’t so sure what the exact terms of our deal had been.

Finally, in the distance, I spotted a figure, though I hadn’t expected it to be Laverne.

“Kai-Kai!” she screeched, desperation splaying her whiskers. “You have to help me! Freechia, she’s... she’s ? —”

“Freechia?” Panic sliced through me as I searched the water. “Where is she?”

Laverne cried out, her voice in my mind growing increasingly panicked. “We were in the middle of a hunt when this… this shadow appeared out of nowhere! She saw it first, so she wanted to be the one to investigate. I tried to follow her, but when I got there, she... she was gone!”

“… What?” All the excitement ripped from me at once, leaving me completely hollowed out as I whispered, “She’s gone?”