by Kelly, Holly
Sara’s lungs expanded and felt as if they would burst. Now they were filled with water and air. As Xanthus pulled away, a fountain poured out of her mouth, and then gurgling bubbles coughed out from her throat. With great effort, Sara squeezed in a breath of air, whistling it through her swollen windpipe. It felt and sounded as if she were breathing through a tiny straw. Then she coughed out more water and then dragged another howling breath in before her windpipe began to relax.
“Hades, Sara. What were you thinking?” Xanthus pulled her hard against his chest.
Sara didn’t answer. She couldn’t. She was still sucking air into her lungs and sobbing on top of that.
“If I hadn’t been here…” Xanthus said. “I swear, little half-Dagonian, I don’t know how you’ve survived as long as you have. I’ve been with you a few weeks and have had to save you from death more times than I can count.”
That was a big exaggeration. “Just twice,” she said between sobs.
“Oh, Moro Mou,” he said. “You only die once.” Xanthus continued to crush her against his chest, holding her for a long time after she’d calmed down. He seemed to have a more difficult time recovering from this incidence than she did. Finally, he let her go. Mumbling his frustration in Atlantian, he turned to snatch the sundress off the floor. When he looked back at her, he froze. Sara was clutching the drenched towel over her body. He looked at the towel, at the tub, at her drenched hair, and then at the large puddle of water she was sitting in. “Did you cover yourself with a towel after pulling yourself out of the water?” he asked, dumbfounded.
Sara’s face burned as she nodded.
Shaking his head, Xanthus grabbed another towel off the rack and flung it, along with her dress, over his shoulder. “Of all the insignificant…” he began and then suddenly stopped. Sara looked down in embarrassment.
Xanthus cleared his throat, “Come on, we need to get the chlorine washed out of your lungs and gills.” He knelt down, tucked her drenched towel around her, and lifted her off the floor.
Sara wondered how he was going to… “Oh no, please just let me breathe air for now.”
“Don’t you dare, I did not get beaten to a pulp last night for nothing. You are going into the water.” And so she did, a few moments later.
If Sara had wanted to push it, she’d have several legitimate charges of kidnapping against Xanthus, but seeing as how he kept saving her life, she’d let them pass—for now.
Xanthus led her through the water as she swam around the bay. Sara had wondered if swimming was instinctive for a half-Dagonian. Just moments after getting into the water, she realize that no, it definitely wasn’t.
On her own, Sara couldn’t seem to move in the directions she wanted to. She was sure, to Xanthus, who was full Dagonian and grew up in the water, that she looked ridiculous. Her fin jerked every which way and her hands clawed at the water in an attempt to pull her in the right direction. As she struggled, she ran into several parrotfish, slapped a trumpet fish, and had innumerous scrapes on her hands from grasping the coral and sea urchins.
Sara had to give Xanthus credit. He hadn’t laughed, at least not so she could see. There were several times he disappeared for a few moments and came back looking almost too serious.
“Are you sure I’m a Dagonian?” Sara asked, feeling out of her element. “I mean, I know I look like one and I know humans can’t breathe underwater, but I did a little research myself and did you know that there was an experiment done years ago where rats were found to be able to breathe underwater? And if we look back far enough into the past, each of us is descended from fish. I always thought that maybe…”
“Sara, stop trying to rationalize it. You’re a Dagonian. There’s no other explanation. You aren’t deformed. You aren’t an anomaly. You, well, here, let me show you something.” Xanthus swam up close to her and brushed his fingers behind her ears. “These are your gills.”
Sara marveled at how strange it felt to have his fingers brush at something behind her ears. She hesitated for a moment before she reached back to feel for herself. What she felt shocked her. There were flaps, like the underside of a mushroom.
“Wow, I… I can’t believe it,” she said.
“Believe it. You’re half-Dagonian.”
“But how did I miss that? You’d think I would have noticed.”
“The gills only open underwater. When you surface, they seal tight. It’s a way of protecting them. Gills are very delicate. Now, back to your swimming lessons.”
Sara continued to struggle through the water. If not for the beauty around her and the company of Xanthus, she’d be utterly depressed and completely discouraged.
In the daylight, the ocean was very different and so beautiful. The fish were vibrant, the water was clear blue, and the coral bloomed all around, forming mounds and hills.
Not only was the ocean gorgeous, but Xanthus had never looked better, He was definitely in his element. His powerful body glided, twisted, darted, and traveled at inhuman speed through the water. His movement looked like a dance choreographed by the gods. In comparison, Sara felt like a twitching idiot.
It had been close to an hour and Sara still couldn’t swim straight. She couldn’t imagine ever being able to swim like Xanthus. That Dagonian sure could move, especially when she sort of had a brush with a tiger shark. She was glad Xanthus hadn’t had to hurt him. The shark took one look at the big Dagonian and shot away in the opposite direction.
“Sara, you’re using the coral as a crutch. You can’t crawl across the ocean,” Xanthus said, peeling her fingers off the coral.
“I just can’t do it. Maybe I’m too human.”
“You’re doing fine. Just let go and we’ll review the proper way to move. Look at me. The movement starts at your head and then travels down your body all the way to your fin. Like a wave. Keep waving and keep your head pointed in the direction you want to move.”
Sara did as he explained. Suddenly, her body was gliding through the water. She took a quick glance back at her waving tail. When her head came up, a blowfish was inches from her face. It was gone a moment later, darting away in a flash. She sighed, wishing she could swim that fast. The wall of coral that seemed so far away, swelled in size as she neared its jagged wall. She threw her hands out and curled her tail underneath her, trying to slow her movement.
Xanthus tugged her to a stop. “Good, that’s just how to do it. You’re doing great. All you need now is more practice.”
“What I need is breakfast. I’m starving,” Sara said.
Xanthus gestured at the fish around them. “Take your pick. I’ll catch it for you.”
“Oh no, I don’t eat my food live. That is one human thing I must insist on.”
“You like sushi, don’t you?”
“Well, yes. But it’s not swimming when I eat it. It’s dead.”
While they were having this discussion, a parrotfish swam a little too close to Xanthus. Like a cobra, his hand whipped out and snatched the fish. The next thing Sara knew, he was ripping the fish’s head off.
“Here, this one is dead.”
“That is disgusting. Besides, it’s illegal to kill a parrotfish.”
“Not where I come from.” He smiled.
“What about the scales and bones? Do you have a knife to fillet it for me?” she asked, expecting him to say no.
Instead, he pulled a knife from his belt. “Parrotfish fillet coming up.”
In a few smooth strokes, he peeled off layers of scales. In another stroke, he peeled away a long, thick fillet of meat and handed it over to her. Sara hesitated before she took it.
What was she supposed to do now? She looked at the fillet and felt the soft meat between her fingers. “Okay, I’ve cooked fillets like this a thousand times, and do I love sushi. I can do this,” she said to herself. She made the mistake at glancing over at the head of the dead fish as it floated away and she began to gag. She took several breaths of water and closed her eyes, then lifted the fillet to h
er mouth and took a nibble.
Sara opened her eyes in surprise. “Mmm, it tastes good.”
“Of course it does.” He smiled.
After she finished off the fillet, Xanthus offered her the rest of the fish, “Oh, no. I couldn’t eat another bite.”
“You sure don’t eat much,” he said just before he finished off her fish.
“I get enough. As big as you are, you must eat enough to feed an entire family.” Xanthus proved her right when he ate two more large fish before he was done.
The discarded carcasses were left to smaller fish that huddled in groups to nibble. Sara noticed the tiger shark hadn’t returned. “What happened to the shark?”
“Don’t worry, Moro Mou.” Sara’s heart fluttered at the obvious endearment. “Even large sharks stay away from a full-grown Dagonian. I’m surprised that little one came near you. He must have thought you terribly injured.”
“Very funny.” She glared at him as he smiled. He was probably right. She punched him hard in the arm and began to float away in the opposite direction. Xanthus moved in so that they were face to face. She kind of liked that about being in the water. He no longer towered over her.
“You know, little half-Dagonian, no one has ever gotten away with striking me as often as you. In fact, no one has ever struck me without retribution.” What he was saying might have frightened her if it hadn’t been for the smirk on his face.
“What do you think I should do about it?” he asked.
Being this close to him gave her a rush and she answered in the best way she could. She kissed him.
His lips were warm, soft, and very willing to kiss her back. When she started to float away, he clutched her face to hold her in place. Sara wrapped her arms around his neck, pulled her body up against him, and wrapped her tail around his. Xanthus’s grip tightened just before he growled and broke off the kiss. “That’s not a good idea, Mou.” His jaw was clenched as he untangled their fins.
“What’s wrong?”
Xanthus closed his eyes and blew out a watery breath. His brows furrowed as he straightened his arms, putting distance between them. “You should never wrap your fin around a Dagonian you’re kissing, unless you intend to mate with him.”
“Oh,” she said, embarrassed. “I didn’t know.”
“Which is why I ended the kiss,” he said, taking controlled breaths. He shook his head and whispered something in Atlantian. It sounded like a curse.
Sara felt like a fool. Xanthus looked up into her face, his lips turned up into half a smile. He took another deep breath and gave her a small peck on her pursed lips. “You have a lot to learn, little half-Dagonian. Don’t worry. I’ll be here to teach you. But right now, we should be heading back. I have movers coming to pack and take my things over to the apartment building. And then later there’s a crew coming to replace your counters.”
“You’re going to be my neighbor?” Sara felt as if a weight had been lifted off her back. Funny, she hadn’t realized how threatened she’d felt living alone.
“I don’t see how I have much of a choice. You seem determined to get yourself into trouble. I’m just making a preemptive move.”
Xanthus pulled her to his chest and swam them toward his houseboat. This situation still seemed surreal to her. She was in the arms of a gorgeous Dagonian, and she wasn’t dreaming. Anyone seeing them would think he was a merman and she was a mermaid.
“Xanthus?”
“Yes, Mou?”
“What happened to the mermaids?”
“Why do you ask?” he asked, as if the question surprised him.
“I’m just curious. I’ve always wondered if I might be a mermaid. Now I know I’m not, but I’m still intrigued by them.”
Xanthus looked down. For a moment, he looked guilty. “Well, from what I’ve been told, the Mer, or sirens as many often call them, were quite different from us. They were lovers of mischief, especially when it came to humans. They saw humans as a source of amusement. They would lure them in with their songs and the humans, unable to resist their voices, would steer their ships toward shallow rocks. The mermaids thought it was hilarious watching the ships crash on the rocks and the men drown in the sea.
“Occasionally, a mermaid would get a human close enough for him to try to steal a kiss. Then she would grab hold of him and pull him underwater to drown him. Still, because of the beauty and mystery of the Mer, the humans were fascinated by them.
“The Mer took their songs and games too far when they choose to mock Poseidon. When Poseidon lost the temple in Athens to Athena, he was furious. He was one of the greater gods, after all. Then a certain Siren began to sing a song about his defeat. It was a disrespectful song that exploded in popularity and, before long, all the Mer were singing it. When Poseidon heard the song, he went into a fit of rage and ordered them killed—every merman and mermaid.”
“Wow, that’s pretty harsh,” Sara said.
“The gods aren’t known to be forgiving or tolerant.” Xanthus shrugged.
“So how different did the Mer look from Dagonians?”
“We’re similar in body, but differ in temperament. Dagonians are very proud and arrogant. The Mer were very flighty, attractive, but also mischievous. And those humans who thought that someone so beautiful could never harm them died a quick and often painful death. In fact, we Dagonians called the Mer children of the sharks.”
“So why don’t the humans have any legends about Dagonians?”
“Because Dagonians keep far away from humans. The few humans who have had contact with Dagonians and lived, assumed that the Dagonian was a Mer.”
Xanthus adjusted his grip, pulling Sara closer under his chin. She held tight, feeling his muscles ripple under her gripping hands, as he swam. The warm current rushed across her face. It was amazing how fast he could swim, even with a passenger. She wondered if a mermaid could swim as fast. She doubted, from what he was saying, that they ever had Dagonian and Mer races.
“So, I take it Dagonians didn’t get along with mermaids.”
“We feared the wrath of Triton enough to leave them alone,” Xanthus said. “But, Dagonians hated the Mer. You’d be hard-pressed to find a Dagonian that’s sorry they are all dead.”
“Are you sorry?” She wondered if he was hardened enough to be glad a whole race of merpeople were dead.
“To tell you the truth, I am sorry for what happened. That was pretty harsh of Poseidon to kill them all, every mermaid and merman. And my mother who is much older than me told me they were not all as bad as so many Dagonians made them out to be.”
“How old is your mother?”
“I’m not sure,” Xanthus said, surprised. He sounded as if he’d never thought about it before.
“You don’t know?”
“She’s very old. More than two thousand years.”
“You’re kidding,” Sara said.
“Not at all.” She heard the smile in his voice.
“So she might have known some of the Mer,” she said.
“I’m sure she did. My own great-grandmother was a mermaid.”
“Wow. So you’re part Merman?”
“Some,” he conceded.
“So has Triton had any more children?”
“No, he hasn’t. Losing all his children in such a violent way made him vow that he would never father more.”
“If Triton did have more children, what would Poseidon do? Would he kill them too?”
“No, all the guilty have been punished and any new children of Triton would be held guiltless.”
An ethereal glow shone through the milky blue water as Xanthus’s houseboat came into focus. “Looks like we’re home,” she said. Her face burned red when she realized what she said. “I mean, it looks like we’re at your home.”
Xanthus chuckled. “Yes, we’re home. Well, it’s home for now. Would you like to swim from here?”
“Sure, but I’ll need help getting in. I don’t levitate like you do, Houdini.”
&n
bsp; “Houdini?”
“He was a famous magician.”
“Okay, Mou,” he said, “I’ll levitate you out of the water.”
She took a few stuttered tail swishes forward until she got a smoother rhythm going. “You’re doing so much better, Sara. Before you know it, you’ll be swimming better than Michael Phelps.”
“Oh, thanks.” She rolled her eyes and swam toward the surface. “I’ll be able to swim better than a human. I can’t believe how quickly I’ve become accustomed to thinking of myself as other than human. I guess I never felt much a part of the human race. So what do you call someone who’s half-human, half-Dagonian?”
Xanthus looked away and shrugged.
“You don’t know a name for someone like me?”
“Sara, it’s been so long since we’ve had a half-human that we had no need for a name.” What he said made sense, but he was acting way too strange for her to believe him.
“You do know a name for it. You just don’t want to tell me.”
“Come on, Mou. We’re going to be late.” Xanthus avoided the subject as he pulled her into his arms. He left her stomach behind as he sped them though the water, up through the hatch, and into his houseboat. He continued on as he raced her into his room, plopped her down on the bed, left, and closed the door behind him. Sara wasted no time peeling off her dress and changing into dry clothes.
A few minutes later, there was a soft knock at the door.
“Come in, I’m decent,” she said as she continued to wrap her fin.
Xanthus walked in wearing shorts, a white t-shirt, and flip-flops. His damp curls were still dripping. “It’s a shame to cover such a beautiful tail fin, Mou.”
Sara scrunched her eyebrows and chuckled. “That still freaks me out, you calling it a tail, although I always knew it looked like a tail. I thought just thinking of it that way would mean I was completely insane.”
“Here, let me.” He took her fin, carefully folded it over, and wrapped it. “I’ve never seen a tail so flexible.”
“It’s had years of training.” She smirked.
He finished the wrap and lifted her into his arms. “I’m sorry you’ve had to hide for so long, Moro Mou.”
