I still haven’t found Balai Islet. The Ocean Guard Academy was in relatively shallow waters—shallower than I what I was used to. And so there were multitudes of rock mountains and islets lining the perimeter. I spent most of our dinner hour swimming between formations searching for some kind of glass moniker or engraving that indicated the area. But it was too hard to tell what was used for training and what was just a piece of land.

I sighed and took refuge on a small area of rock that stretched pretty high. My pocketwatch read 7:45. If I didn’t head back now, Commander Lori would have my head for skipping curfew.

“It’s too embarrassing. I could never ask Cal of that.”

I froze. Tima? She must’ve been on the other side of this rock—but who was she talking to? And why about Cal…?

“It’s a leap asking anyone.” Came a reply. Snyder? “Why would you want to do this?”

I pressed my ear to the rock in an attempt to hear more. The slop of the ocean was distracting. I could only imagine her balling up and hiding in her hair.

“…I don’t want to do this anymore. It’s tiring.” She whimpered. “Please, if you can find someone…”

“I…” Snyder sighed in defeat. “I’ll see what I can do. But why ask me?...Wouldn’t you rather entrust this to Cal?”

Another silence. I could only wonder what it was that she needed that Tima could only go to Snyder for. Was it something I couldn’t help with either?

“…I couldn’t do that to him.” She sighed. “He’s my friend. He’d try to stop me at all costs. Rocca too.” The hot tropical air suddenly felt constricting. “Don’t you dare tell her.”

My chest felt bruised. Of everything she’s said so far, this was something she was the most definite in. And I felt horrible listening in.

Snyder blew out a bubbled sigh. “I mean, I won’t, but…why are you asking me of all people? Aren’t you afraid I’d tell?”

“…You won’t. Rocca seems to trust you.” Tima said. “So you must be reliable.”

Snyder chuckled silently. “I’ve got the seal of approval, huh? Fine. I’ll take care of it.” I tried peeking behind the rock, careful to stay quiet. I saw a glint of green scale. “We better get going before lights out.”

The two dove under with a light splash. I stuck close to the shade of the rock as I spotted the outline of their bodies jet towards the academy. I waited several minutes before following. My mind was abuzz with confusion.

What are Snyder and Tima about to do? And why can’t I know about it?

* * *

Dear Captain,

There has been surprising progress in mermaid school. I think I’ve found a secret cult. The problem, of course, is that I can’t find their meeting spot. I think it’s about time I tracked down the academy’s elusive information broker.

There’s another caveat…I cannot move forward without a recommendation. Do you know Captain Valle?

Regards,

Rocca.

* * *

I checked my pocketwatch. 12:30.

Where was my sister? Early this morning I passed her a letter via classmate to meet me at the academy outskirts—what could be keeping her? I felt queasy realizing she may never come, and she was my last hope finding Balai islet. She knew this place better than I did and if she didn’t know specifically where it was, she would know someone who did.

I anxiously rubbed my tail. Okay, back up plan—catch her at dinner. I’ve got until lights out, right? Agh…

I looked out to the stretch of light green sea beyond me. The shore of Ma Anod was a blur from here. I counted countless ships in passing and wished I was on one of them. The sea was calm, the waves no more than short rolls. I watched them rise and dip.

Another boat caught my eye—a small one-person canoe, and it was coming this way to the academy’s perimeter. I sat up from the rocky pass as a particularly large wave escalated very close by. It reached forward, over the canoe, and came crashing down—

I hopped into the ocean just as a canoe oar flew into the air. A man was hurled deep into the water, covered in a cloak of bubbles. I pushed harder when his legs wouldn’t turn into a tail.

I barely reached him when he started choking, and frantically, I pushed us to the surface. He gasped at the first opportunity for air.

“Ah, God, I hate the sea!” he exclaimed as he cleared his throat. “Get me to my canoe!”

I found it flipped over a bit away and guided him to it. He was desperate to stay afloat and constantly pushed me down as if he couldn’t stay up long enough. When we reached his canoe, I assisted in flipping it over and watched him scramble inside.

He sighed as if he’d almost died. I suppose that’s fair since it didn’t look like he could swim.

“A-are…are you okay?” I asked, this line of rescuing completely foreign to me.

Of the rescue operations ma’am had me shadow, it’d never been of a boat this small. Humans were usually smart enough not to use a river boat on the open sea.

“D-do you need help getting somewhere secure? I can get a more experienced ocean guard to escort you…” I offered when he ignored me to wring out his shirt. It was actually quite expensive looking—a silver barong with green stitching along the wrists and collar. He wore cyan and purple-patterned woven beads and a necklace comprised of many animal teeth.

I wasn’t quite sure what any of it meant, but I had a haunting feeling that he was important.

The man sighed and went on to wring out his locs. “It’s fine…I can get home from here.”

I looked out to the ocean and grimaced. If he tried going back to Ma Anod, he’d probably get swallowed again.

“C-can I at least get you an escort?” I pleaded.

He looked to me as if I were a great inconvenience. “If I needed help with every little thing, I’d already have it. Who exactly is responsible for you?”

“U-um…Commander Lori, sir.” I said. His eyebrows drew down, but the rest of his face remained blank. “I’m in Captain Valle’s troop.” I continued, realizing his confusion was from my obscure guardian.

“I…see.” The man said, sitting himself up properly. “Oh…yes. You do look familiar. Don’t you have a sister…?”

I nodded, keeping my head down. I really did piss off passing human military ranked high in the food chain. I am so dead.

“Yes sir. Coraline of Kiniye Island.” I replied.

“You must be Rocca.” His tone softened. For a moment, it was almost familiar. But I was sweating too many bullets to make a connection.

I nodded. “Yes sir.”

“Rocca, could you fetch my oar?” He requested. I nodded and dove under, thankful for the refreshing breath of water. I wiped at the tears sparking from my eyes. Now was not the time to cry. I still have to face Lori’s rod later.

His oar had drifted to the seafloor. I picked it up, took a shaky breath, and jetted for the surface. When I popped back up, the man flinched in surprise.

“Oh! Thank you. That was fast.” He said as I laid it back in his canoe. “I will reward you. You may ask me one question.”

I wouldn’t dare ask him to spare my life. I knew I was as good as dead when Lori found out.

Instead, my thoughts clicked back to my original mission. It was a longshot, but I had a feeling this man knew more than his strange necklaces suggested. I held onto the rim of his canoe, careful to keep my drippings off of it.

“U-um, sir…” I mustered, “Have you…umm…e-ever heard of Balai Islet?”