A slow current was all she felt.

Yet, as time passed, it stopped being the only thing she sensed. She soon began to hear too; albeit only muffled echoes, her mind dazed. She could swear something shifted nearby. There was a sorrowful whisper, which prompted another sound after a while. Soon, a bitter murmur echoed, but she could only pick the hurt tone in it.

She slowly came to realize that she was not alone. And she hurt.

Those silver eyes were not on her. His frame was hunched while he sat on the rocks, his big tail brushing sadly some sand. He was unable to look again at Matthew, who still was angry. Not that he blamed him. He could only blame himself and his choice; his obstinate attempt at keeping things out of reach did more harm than good.

Alon was too focused on his thoughts and emotions to notice her shifting. His eyes were fixed on the now calmer waters; the disgusting seaweed had drifted away. They had sunk and were finally below out of view. A day had gone by; a tense, painful and dreadful one. The sea had regained its natural colours, something that made him think of angered azure eyes, and her words. Matthew’s as well.

Everything is-

“Ngh-h.”

Alon blinked, hearing a faint groan. He quickly turned and leaned on the rocks, to look over her figure, watching worriedly. Her tail was still a mess; seeing her slowly come to her senses made him both wary and hopeful.

Diya eventually let out another small growl, her upper fins twitching at her sides. Her lure began to flicker, faintly. Then her eyes opened; only to see a huge shadowed figure, looking down at her intently.

Alon’s eyes widened, as hers did. He could only yelp and move away slightly, because she did not react well to awakening near him, her eyes showing clear signs of confusion and fear. Diya panted as she recoiled blindly, not remembering the wounds her tail had. He did not have time to stop her before she had to herself.

“Ah-gh…!”

The angler slowed her moves with a snarl, feeling the stab and flow of pain rushing up her tail. She still kept inching backwards clumsily, without looking at him, panicking. She only stopped when he spoke.

“Stay still, please.” The voice was calm, she could hear the worry. “I bandaged the wounds; you are going to open them at this rate.”

Diya let out multiple trembling exhales. After a minute, she finally looked up. Alon had not tried to near, but his hands were raised in a nervous stance, eyes fixed on hers. He was silently asking her to calm down. So her eyes looked down, noticing how her tail was outstretched in front of her, onto the reef. A set of bandages was indeed wrapped around it, stopping the slight bleeding, hiding the gap that had been there.

Alon smiled sadly, seeing a trace of recognition flash in her eyes. She still glared at him, her upper fins puffing, distrusting. Her next question was urgent, confused.

“Why?”

He leaned his head, taken aback.

“What?”

Alon let out a nervous gasp, seeing her try to sit up with a huff, fins moving fast. Her fangs showed as she moved farther away, questioning.

“Why did you help me? What do you want from me?”

He tensed and frowned. She could not avoid doing so as well, because he sent her a disapproving glare. He pointed at her scarred tail next, sternly.

“You think I want something?” He scoffed silently, crossing his arms at her. “I simply could not leave you like that. Do you wish I had left you there?”

He was not surprised to see her bite her lip and debate. It was to be expected that she would ponder the presence of another merfolk; her race was one of the most solitary ones there could be. It showed clearly in her next apprehensive snarl.

“D-don’t expect me to do anything in return. I’m leaving, you-“

“I only expect and want one thing, you hear me?” Diya flinched, because Alon pointed a finger, commanding. “See that wound? It’s still bad to look at. So do me a favour, and just stop moving. Stay here, still, and rest.”

She finally noticed that she had been ruining the bandages; she had been moving away little by little, without her realizing it. She slowly relaxed, and so, Alon’s frown began to soften… until another voice echoed.

“Alon, if she wants to leave, let her leave.”

She blinked. The big merman took a deep breath and closed his eyes, raising two fingers to his forehead; it would not help him with the headache that was to come. She finally spotted the figure in the shadows. He was leaning against some reefs, adjacent to the ones they sat on.  He was outstretched down on the rocks. The end of his tail was moving side to side with boredom, while he glared down at what he held. He was staring at a small conch, to not have to look up to those silver eyes.

Matthew’s only evident emotion was resent. And he did not show any signs of attention when Alon replied.

“She must stay; at least until I am sure she’s fine.” Alon leaned a little to look better at him, tiredness obvious in his stance and tone. “If another truly wanted to leave, I wouldn’t stop him.”

There was no anger in Alon’s words, just sorrow; and it only increased when Matthew lashed again, without needing to put emotion in his voice.

“Even if you would fare better without my presence, and I sure wish to go back home…” His hazel eyes finally fixed on him, narrowed; he continued before Alon could argue. “I’m kind of stuck. Can’t go off, not with a freaking shark roaming around, wanting to have a snack. I rather-“

Both mermen jolted, surprised by a small yelp. They both blinked poker-faced, seeing how the mermaid began to look all around her, panicked. Matthew frowned slowly, catching faster than Alon what made her fear. He spoke up to her without a hint of the anger he showed moments before.

“Hey, relax, everything’s fine!” Diya peeked past her fins, seeing Matthew sit up and smile at her, assuring. “That shark won’t near.”

Alon sighed and crossed his arms, because Matthew pointed at him with his caudal fin.

“That thing fears this orca.” The anger came again, the next comment poignant, and for him. “That’s the only reason I stay.”

Said orca closed one eye and glared down, a big tail slamming harmlessly on the rocks.

“Yes, the only reason, sure. Says the one who kept asking every five minutes if the wounds were alright. The same one who, even while fearing someone coming back, agreed that we could not abandon to their luck a-“

A small thud echoed. Alon raised an eyebrow at the small conch that had collided with his head, now sinking at his side slowly. Matthew gave a satisfied nod, seeing that he stopped speaking with a small exasperated huff. Diya was giving them both a nervous look. The two were not exactly in the best terms. She could see the tiredness, anger and sadness in their eyes. They rarely dared to look at each other. But what she could see the most was the fear and worry. They looked at the depths from time to time, back to where they found her.

She shivered, remembering well those azure eyes, those vines. They were gone, something she did not understand. But she understood something else.

“That someone you mentioned… is not a dolphin, right?” They both looked at her, frowning. She was fidgeting again, even if they told her not to. “You saw her, didn’t you? Why did the seaweed go away?”

Alon gave her a look. His mouth opened and closed a few times, giving enough time for Matthew to be more direct.

“The name’s Iara.” He questioned her, imagining, pondering. “She is a dolphin indeed. We were looking for her, but she… was not glad to see us. You were covered by seaweed when we found you. Was it-?“

“She attacked me.” Matthew and Alon finally stopped sitting, both floating up in the water. They saw a haunted look cross Diya’s face; she looked ready to flee. “S-she may come back at any moment. You saw those things, all that she- She will come back, she is dangerous. It won’t stop. We have to go away, where she won’t reach.”

Diya was speaking fast; her lure was flickering, and her figure shaking. But Alon could only question, as lost as Matthew.

“Calm down.” The mermaid shook her head, seeing him near slowly. “You are not in shape to move yet. She went away. We don’t know what is wrong with her, but I will face her if she-“

“F-face her?!” Alon was taken aback, because Diya seemed to give them a guilty look, which they did not understand. “N-no no, you don’t get it. Face that thing and it will kill you! That parasite won’t let you say a word! She’s very well dead! Her and everything these vines reach!”

All because I led her there.

Diya began to swim backwards, seeing both mermen near her slowly. Matthew had finally swum to Alon’s side. One worried she would flee in fear, the other caught that she knew something.

“Wait; let’s talk. I know you are scared, but…”

“What the hell do you mean with parasite?”

Diya’s eyes fixed on Matthew. All that the shark said echoed again in her mind. Those azure eyes were hopeful, there had been a wish. The shark told her to lead her to those ruins, to the one that waited there. As soon as these two had appeared… the vines had gone away. The brunet was human, she could see it. His teeth were not sharp enough, his eyes were less bright. She had never seen one like him; he looked mixed. His tail was dolphin-like, soft, no scales. Yet his fins were translucent, thin, and big, like hers.

Those azure eyes were full of care, once. Now all was gone. The beast had fled, and it could have only been for one reason.

“I h-have to-“

I can’t lead them to their deaths too.

Both mermen were shocked, because she suddenly gave a very impressive kick of tail and dashed away, even with her wounds.

“W-wait! Come back!”

Alon was the first to bolt behind her. Followed by a more anxious Matthew, whose mind was now running wild. They would have expected her to flee north, closer to the cay, far from where the vines came from. But she was going down instead, to the depths, avoiding going west. She hid into the dark, fleeing from them. They were losing her; the only thing that kept them close was the fact that they could discern a small trail of blood in the current, her bandages broken.

Matthew panted, finally catching up to Alon. He pushed away his bitterness for a moment, knowing there were more important things to worry about, like getting to her.

“We have to catch her, Alon!” He did not look at him, even when his voice had held no resent. “S-she knows something!”

Something that could help them understand why Iara was like this; even if they were beginning to know themselves, dreadfully so.

“I heard her, Matthew.” That seaweed was indeed something horrible, worse than thought. “She knows what afflicts her. But she is going into the depths. We can’t let her go away.”

Matthew looked ahead again, fear evident. He let out a tired sob, seeing her figure dash between shadowed reefs.

“W-well! She IS getting away!”

They should be faster, yet they were losing sight of her. Every time they caught a glimpse of her fins, she hid past rocks. It did not help that Matthew was beginning to struggle to see, too dark. Alon knew; he growled a little, shaking his head.

“Anglers love darkness.”

Diya panted, keeping on swimming, ignoring the burning on her lower fins. She only looked back when she reached darker depths, rocks and openings greeting her once more. She finally lost them. Yet she could still hear movement in the distance. They were still searching for her.

They were worried. They wanted answers. And they wanted them from her, the one who led them to this. They did not know that fact, however, and she did not want them to know. Because they knew that dolphin, they cared about her.

How can I admit I was the one to tell her where to find-?

No, not help. She found her demise. And she was to blame.

Diya covered herself with her upper fins, slowing her movements. They were faster, but she could hide well in the dark. She would wait unseen until they tired. They had to stop, and go away. They should give up on that dolphin. The danger was evident, they had seen. She could not explain why it was dangerous; knowing it was should be enough for them.

Other merfolk were a threat, she was nothing but a pest in their turfs. They were always hateful, aggressive. Some even tried to prey on her. And maybe they would too if they knew what she did.

She was tired of it.