Chapter 5: A Light In The Ocean - Sebastian

I swim at a glacial pace weaving around a school of fish and start to swim deeper past the continental slope and along the seabed, stopping when I approach the edge of the ocean trench. I lower my body to the seabed and let my fingers sink into the grains of sand beneath me. From here I can see the outline of our old kingdom at the depths of the trench; still intact and perfectly preserved under the sea. Long ago this kingdom resided on the surface and was attached to the mainland, but in a cataclysmic event, was swallowed by the sea. The God of the Elements, Ezillus, used his magic to preserve the kingdom and those within.

Around the outside of the underwater kingdom there is nothing but demolished structures and I’m sure more skeletons than I want to think about. Divers are unable to find this place thanks to the magic around it. Our people lived here for centuries before deciding to return to the surface, but this place is still a huge part of our history, and where we keep our most valuable possessions. It’s even where we keep the royal crowns.

I consider swimming down the trench and having a wander around the old palace, but that thought leaves me when I notice the fish around me scatter. I can feel the presence of something behind me and so I slowly turn around only to come face to face with several rows of sharp teeth that look ready to take a bite out of me. I take in the 16-foot Great White Shark in front of me, marvelling at the dark grey colour of the top half of her skin and the bright white of her belly.

I bring myself to full height and put my hands on my hips, “Scylla, that wasn’t funny,” I scold, giving the familiar shark a stern look. Scylla swims forward giving me a hard jab with her snout, and I push her away, “You’re always trying to sneak up on me,” I say as I swim closer and stroke her snout going from tip to tail. Don’t go the other way unless you want to pat sandpaper.

Scylla begins to slowly circle me and for any other mammal, this wouldn’t be good, but with me, this is her being friendly. Yes, I’m friends with a Great White Shark, so suck on that bitches. Great Whites don’t typically live in the Mediterranean, though there have been sightings. I’d actually gone for a long swim one day and encountered Scylla when she was just a pup about to become another Great White’s dinner. I don’t usually get involved in the eating habits of sea animals, but she looked so vulnerable and helpless, and I couldn’t help myself. I made that Great White fuck off, and to my surprise, Scylla ended up following me home.

I would never call her my pet; pets require training and taking care of. Scylla is self-sufficient, so I call her my friend and I’ve called her that for forty years. She’ll venture off for months at a time for hunting or maybe mating, I have no idea. But she always comes back. People are pretty used to her by now around here. If a fin is spotted they can usually tell if it’s her and come and let me know and I always come to say hello. This time she managed to catch me by surprise.

“Let’s go for a swim, hey girl?” I say as I give her belly a pat. Scylla LOVES belly rubs, but I usually need gloves for that or that would fuck up my beautiful skin.

We begin swimming side by side at a slow pace, just enjoying each other’s company; nothing but the soothing rhythm of the ocean and the gentle hum of the crashing waves filling the silence. I swirl and twirl around Scylla and occasionally she swims up and prods me with her snout when I’m swimming over her. Can you believe it, a shark accepts me more than my parents do?

“Why do they have to be like this, Scylla?” I sigh, “I’ve always been a good son and Prince; I’ve never done anything to bring shame to the kingdom or our family. I take my duty seriously and I love my people. I’ve never shown I would be anything short of a great king, but because I enjoy dick, suddenly all my good qualities are brought into question. I just wish my parents could accept me. They want me to live a lie and spend my life in the closet, who the fuck asks that of their child?” I ask in frustration. I doubt Scylla can understand me, but it’s nice just having her company to vent to. Though I probably shouldn’t bitch to her about parents being dicks. At least I was nurtured by my parents during my informative years.

As we continue to swim, a sudden beam of tropical blue appears in the water, stretching on for miles and I freeze in place as my heart lodges itself in my throat. My animai. I can’t believe it. I’ve heard stories my entire life about sirna finding their animai and I always tried to picture what it would be like, but nothing ever really prepares you for this. Ever since I was a youngling I was told that the water would lead me to my animai, and it’s finally happening.

“Sorry girl, we’ll have to swim more later,” I say, giving Scylla a quick pat on her side and take off swimming as fast as my fins will carry me. Sirna are the fastest beings in the sea and right now I’m utilising that fact as best I can as I follow the beam of light like the beacon that it is.

I’m not sure how many miles I covered in such a short amount of time, but it’s not long before I’m approaching land. I can see the jagged underwater rocks of a cliff's edge, but those aren’t my concern. What is my concern is the body of a man sinking through the water and the beam of light that is leading me right to him. With my thoughts only on saving my animai, I swim to him and grab him around the waist feeling currents of electricity shoot through my arms making every individual scale on my tail tingle.

I’m about to swim to the surface when a burning sensation around my wrist gets my attention. I watch in astonishment as an electric blue and purple chain appears around my left wrist. That same link stretches, and I watch it form around the wrist of the man in my arms. The chain fades away, turning into a brand around my wrist with the same shifting colours. I want to find out what the hell just happened, but if I float around thinking about it my animai will drown to death.

I quickly swim to the surface, but make sure not to swim too fast. Last thing I want is to have found my animai only to kill him by causing him a fatal case of the bends. We breach the surface and panic sets into my bones when I notice he doesn’t immediately gasp for air. I see the shore of the beach not far, and with a firm hold around him, I feel the brief tearing sensation as my scales retreat into my flesh, my fins turn back into feet and my tail separates into legs once again. I feel the burning of my irises when they begin to glow as I tap into the water magic inside me and allow mine and my animai’s bodies to become water as I teleport us to the shore.

As we manifest on the sand, I carefully lay him down and lay my hand over his chest. I can sense the water filling his lungs and I feel an ache in my chest at this knowledge. I hover my hand over his mouth bending the water inside his lungs to my will as I draw it from his lungs. I watch as a stream of sea water exits his mouth following the pull of my hand and I quickly throw it away. I sigh a breath of relief when he gasps for air and begins to cough.

With him finally able to breath, I allow myself to take in his appearance. Fuck me, he’s the most gorgeous thing I’ve ever seen! Droplets of water trickle down his dark cocoa skin and coat his dark lips that are surrounded by a very trimmed moustache and beard. The ocean water is repelled by the thick yet minimal amount of black hair on the top of his head, yet it clings to the fabric of his clothes. He has to be about 6’3” with alluring dark muscles not so hidden under his now transparent white long-sleeved shirt. He’s wearing black slacks and loafers, and as much as I would love to see what’s underneath I’m not about to molest my soulmate.

His eyes weakly open for the briefest moment and I gasp at the sight of them. I’ve never seen eyes like this in my entire life. Electric blue surrounds his irises as it merges into electric purple towards the pupil. His eyes look at me with exhaustion before closing again. I take his hand in mine and softly kiss the back of it and relish the jolts that shoot through my lips.

“You’re okay now. I’ll take care of you,” I promise, gently caressing his cheek.

I glance once more at the mark around my wrist and look over at the identical mark around his. We couldn’t be full bonded already, could we? No, the Goddess cares too much about consent. So, if this isn’t an animai mark, then what the fuck is it? I’ll have to ask when he wakes up, but first I have to get him back to the palace.

I look around noting that I don’t see a boat, or anyone nearby, and then glance up at the cliff’s edge above us. He must have fallen from the cliff… I just hope it wasn’t on purpose. Whatever made him end up in the sea, good or bad, it still brought me to him. After over a century, I finally found my animai, and I get to be the one to nurse him back to health. I always wanted to play nurse.