Fishy Angel

It had to be a dream. There was no way mermaids existed, right?

Dawn couldn’t see much in the dark watery tomb. However, he questioned his sanity when thin arms wrapped around his torso with a scaly tail pulling him upwards to the surface. Maybe he had already died, and this was the underworld.

Although he could not see, Dawn could hear the splashing of waves and feminine grunts as his mysterious angel pulled him up on the rocks. She struggled with his weight for a while before shredding his shirt.

If Dawn were still able to move, he would have leered at the action. However, he was too tired to care. Whatever, he was dying anyway. Nothing she did would help. A ruined shirt was the last of his concern, although dying in the arms of a fishy stranger wasn’t what he had in mind when he threw himself off that bridge.

Instead of getting violated by his fishy saviour, Dawn heard faint sobbing sounds. Was she really crying for a total stranger?

It wasn’t his imagination. The fishy angel was weeping over his cold body. Her webbed hands might be cold on his feverish skin, but her tears were scalding in comparison as they dripped onto his exposed torso.

Miraculously, the pain in his abdomen reduced. The fever that gave him chills subsided, and a heavy fog filled his mind. Dawn felt exhaustion like never before, and despite trying his best to fight sleep, he lost that battle. The last thing he saw in his hazy consciousness after finally opening his eyes was a pair of striking aquamarine eyes that reflected the sun rising on the horizon.

As Dawn’s eyes slipped shut, Aqua noticed how the human she saved had grey eyes. She had no idea if it was common for human eyes to share the same colour as rocks, but it was interesting to her.

Unfortunately, he was still too weak from the injury. She might have saved his life, but the rest was up to him. Healing took up a lot of energy from the healer and the patient. Aqua was exhausted from crying so much, but it was worth it.

The price she had to pay for using her powers showed up in the form of human legs. Her mother used to tell her stories about mermaids who could no longer swim. It was the price to pay for borrowing the powers of the moon, but Aqua did not believe it until now. The story of the kind mermaid who cried for everyone who was injured, gradually lost her tail and was eventually unable to transform back into a mermaid was deeply ingrained in Aqua. She promised her mother that she would not use her powers carelessly because a mermaid could only save three lives before they lost their tails completely.

The first time a mermaid cried, she would lose her tail during the sun hours. The second time a mermaid cried, she would lose her tail on nights with the moon. The third time a mermaid cried, she would lose her tail forever and be unable to return to the ocean. Without a tail, even if a mermaid could breathe underwater, she would be eaten by sharks and whales easily.

Now that she saved her first life, Aqua could not go swimming during the day. She was stuck on the rocks with this man who fainted on her lap until the sun went down. Thankfully, no boats passed this area. They were safe for now.

Rumble…

Sulking at her stomach’s protest, Aqua wondered if she could hunt for some food and return later. The man on her lap wouldn’t be waking up soon. However, she did not know how to use her new legs. Maybe she should take a nap and check on him later. Going out to find food now with her shaky legs will only result in trouble.

Studying the man she saved, Aqua realised that he was rather good-looking. The strange human who fell from above had hair as dark as ink and skin as pale as hers. He was bigger than her if they lay down side by side. Yet, he was nothing like what her mother described to her about men. Maybe merfolk men and human men were different. Merfolk men had bushy and rectangular jaws. Compared to them, this human had no hair on his chin and a jaw similar to mermaids. He had long dark lashes that cast a shadow on his cheeks while he slept.

Why would anyone harm such a kind-looking person? Aqua could not understand the strange things humans did.

Feeling sleepy, the mermaid listened to the lull of waves and yawned. It was a long night, and the sun was already high up in the sky. Cars started making noises on the bridge above them like they did every morning. Aqua was usually asleep at this hour near some rocks at the bottom of the sea, but she could not leave this human alone. 

What if some seagulls decided to eat him while she slept? She could not allow it. Since she saved his life, she would be responsible and care for him until he woke up to send him away.

Determined, the sleepy mermaid hummed songs that her mother used to sing to keep herself awake. The sun rose higher and higher, and Aqua eventually resorted to counting cars. However, after the third hundredth car, the exhausted mermaid eventually fell asleep with the strange human in her arms.

Using her curtain of golden hair as a blanket to cover them, Aqua drifted off to sleep.

Hours passed peacefully as Aqua and Dawn slept. The tide came and went as the sun reached the other side of the bridge.

It was golden orange when Dawn woke up, feeling well-rested for the first time since his father’s death. He had no idea where he was or what he was doing until memories pierced his head, giving him a migraine.

Bolting up in alarm, his sudden movement pulled the sleeping mermaid along with him. Unable to grasp onto her rock that suddenly moved, Aqua’s arms slipped, and she hit her head on a rock she was lying on earlier.

“Ow!” the naked mermaid groaned in confusion, blinking. She slept late and was still feeling out of it when she realised something different.

“Oh! You’re awake! Are you hungry?”

Staring at the naked beauty with golden hair and aquamarine eyes, Dawn did not know what to say. He could only stare at her legs and doubt his memories of last night. Didn’t a fishy angel save him? The lady before him had the same shade of aquamarine eyes, but the legs threw him off.

When the man did not answer, Aqua wondered if she had spoken wrongly. She learned human speech by observing and imitating them over the years. Maybe he did not speak English?

Whipping out his unloaded gun, Dawn glared at the strange beauty.

“Who are you, and why did you save me?”

Unfamiliar with the gun in the man’s hand, Aqua tilted her head in confusion. Was there a reason to save someone? What a strange human.