THE SCENT OF SALT. THE SOFT translucent touches of the water that surrounds me. Light filters through the surface of the water. It gleams golden, like a halo covering me in its cold embrace. Bubbles float around me. They do not pop but stretch towards the surface where the light meets the sea. They become one with the tides. 

Fishes swim around me. Fishes of all kinds but they are all too small. They pass through the openings in my arms, tickling me. They wish to play with me and I want to play with them. One of them breaks free from its chain and nears me. It floats before my face and touches my nose. Its mouth brushes against my skin and its teeth graze me. It tickles. I laugh. 

I reach out to touch it and it lets me. I look up at the sea where the light reaches for me and stretch my hand towards it. I try to swim up to the surface but the more I swim, the more I seem to get away from nearing it. 

I frown. Strange. 

Clara. A voice seems to call out for me. Its voice covers me in a daze and I respond almost eagerly. Yes. 

Stay my child. This is where you belong.  I shake my head. But I wish to go to the surface. I long to see the land. 

Clara…It gently coaxes me. Stay here, my child. The ocean is your home. 

I frown. Wrong. I look behind at the surface. The land is my home.  The voice pauses for a second and I panic. No. “Hello?”  I look around nervously. “Where are you?”

Do not leave me alone. All of a sudden the sea grows darker. The halo, the sunlight- it was gone. 

When I open my eyes blearily staring into the ceiling of my room, I realise that I can hear my heartbeat. 

It runs fast and wild, throbbing against the walls of my chest like an eager monster ready to pounce out of the skin by any means. My body feels hot and cold simultaneously. I reach up to touch my forehead and find it damp with sweat. 

Did I have a nightmare? I cannot remember. 

I sit up straight and find myself faltering in my movements. I almost fall back into the bed but I keep myself steady by grabbing onto the headboard. My throat feels parched and my heart is still hammering against my chest. I feel oddly dehydrated. 

I look down at my hands and see certain scale-like figures appearing on my skin and sigh. Of course, it's related to that.

“You-Aven!” I yell or try to but my voice cracks in the middle. 

The tides crash outside and the sound is so loud that it annoys me for a reason unknown. A voice in my head is tempting me. Go. Leave. 

The ocean is calling for you. 

I groan. Shut. Up. 

Minutes later the door to my room swings open and a very annoyed Aven appears before it. He raises a brow. 

“What is it now?”

I raise my hand for him to see. “Look at this.”

He rolls his eyes and approaches me. Standing by the bedside, he takes my arm in his hand and examines it. “Ah, looks like the effects are starting. You are dehydrated.”

“Excuse me?”

Aven looks at me as though I am stupid. “You are a half-siren now Clara. It is natural for you to be dehydrated when you are out of water.” He glances down at the scales and whispers. “I think I have a solution.”

“And that is?”

Aven glances at me. “What do you think about going out for a swim?”

I close the door to the shop and place the closed sign on it. With my sandals in my hand, I glance at Aven who is standing near the cliff, looking down at the green-blue sea. I cannot fathom his expression as I am standing far away from him but assume that it would be of disinterest. 

My feet burn from walking barefoot on the sunburned rocks. I immediately slide into my sandals and sigh a breath of relief. “Aven!” I call out. 

It still feels weird to call the siren by a name, faker than the concern that he is showing me. As much as I wish to refer to Aven in the way I was doing before, I assumed that angering him would cost me more than I thought. Aven turns around. The morning wind plays with his golden strands. It stands out in the sunlight and I marvel at his beauty unintentionally. Are all sirens this beautiful or is it just him?

He brushes off the hair that is falling on his face and tucks it behind his ear. With his other hand tucked in his pant pocket, he regards me with a nonchalant expression. 

“Ready to go?” I ask him only to receive a shrug. He walks past me to the rocky stairs and steps down with ease. I follow him, carefully stepping down while observing the back of his head. 

I wish I could read his mind just like how he does with mine. 

“What are you doing sweetheart?” 

I glance at him only to see him already looking at me. “Come on. We don’t have all the time in the world in our hands.”

I roll my eyes. “Yeah. Yeah. I get it.”

I step away from him, moving towards the rocks and facing them instead of him. I place the towel on the rocks and then proceed to take off my shirt revealing my swimsuit. It is a bright red one-piece swimsuit, one that went well with my skin tone. It covered most of my upper body which was comforting enough for me. Aven tore his shirt off and went straight into the waves. 

“Hey!” I yelled. “That was my brother’s shirt you fucking fish!”

Aven doesn’t respond, instead, he goes back to swimming. Sighing I join him. 

The water is lukewarm on my skin but it doesn’t stop the shivers from trailing up. I slowly walk deeper into the sea and the tides grow bigger with it. I hesitate. But then a hand pulls me into the sea and I scream before falling into it. It is hard opening my eyes underwater but with effort I manage to do so. I keep blinking but keep it open enough to catch the sight before me. 

The sea was glowing both from the sunlight and  Aven’s magic. It grows brighter until it is blinding. The grip on my wrist grows gentler and I feel a touch on my cheek. A tap. Then two. I open my eyes again. It is painful. But then I see it. 

A mass of vivid cerulean blue scales grows back on Aven’s hands and chest, stretching until it reaches his face. His spine and hands have grown fins- the same beautiful blue in his eyes and body. His hair- his gorgeous blonde hair floats around like a crown.

He had reverted into a siren. I immediately remove myself from his hold and swim to the surface while Aven follows me. 

I gasp upon reaching the surface and look around, searching for him. He appears a while later and stares at me through his azure eyes. “Is this supposed to happen?” I ask him through my gasps. He brushes away his hair and looks down at my arm. Grabbing it on his own, he points at the scales growing on my skin. I gasp and clutch on his shoulder.

“All more reason to find someone quickly for our deal.”

I frown. I feel a weight settle on my chest and clench my fist. 

Why is this the only way?

I nod hesitantly. 

After swimming for a while we return to the shore. By that time the sun had reached over our heads and the sands were scorching hot. Aven wears the torn-off shirt from before and climbs the rocky stairs without even glancing back. 

Somehow it hurt. 

Strange. 

I prepare myself a bath and wash myself to get rid of all the salt and dirt clinging to me. The scales return every time water touches me and I try to ignore it only to fail drastically. 

I step outside my room to find Aven perched on top of the sofa, staring at an advertisement paper. I do not disturb him, instead choose to go to the kitchen to fetch myself a glass of water. 

When I return Joenghan is still observing the paper, however, he speaks this time. “We will go here.” I pause by the door. “Where?”

He turns the paper towards me. I see a picture of something grandiose. I see fairy lights, firecrackers and giant wheels. I raise a brow. “You want to go to the amusement park?”

It confuses me. Why would he suddenly want to visit a place like an amusement park?

Perhaps he wishes to see more of the human life?As if sensing my thoughts, he glances at me and smirks. “Not quite my dear. Not quite. We are going there to find a potential  candidate for our curse breaker.”