Kaerius swam back to where the rest of the Thalassic Mortals based themselves. There was a collection of underwater caves and a kelp bed close by. Kaerius liked sleeping among the kelp. They were tall and slimy and offered excellent camouflage. There were always sea creatures on the lookout for humans who invaded their water. Most of the time, humans who dived were not sleep deprived enough.

As Kaerius approached the kelp bed, he swam close to the seafloor, weaving in and out of the plants, careful not to be seen. His uncle had told his father about the nonsense Kaerius was spewing about having a soulmate. His uncle's father had found him to confront Kaerius about it, and Kaerius got heated when he didn't believe him.

They fought when Kaerius mentioned how his soulmate was the human who hurt his uncle. Kaerius had known that he was late meeting up with the human at noon. He had no choice but to go to him and drag his uncle's father along too.

Now, Kaerius watched from the shadows as other Thalassic Mortals mourned over those who were lost and prepared themselves for moving west. They were supposed to leave that morning, but his uncle had convinced them to stay an extra few days because Kaerius was being difficult.

"Not out chasing humans?" a voice said next to the young Thalassic Mortal, and Kaerius jumped, but underwater, he simply drifted a foot.

"No," Kaerius replied, touching his forehead where the human's heel slammed into it. He looked at Jaiker, his uncle's father.

"Why have you returned?" Jaiker asked, moving his long grey hair from his face, peering at him through hooded blue eyes. The wrinkles between his eyebrows deepened.

"What do you know about soulmates and bonds and royals?"

"Not this again," Jaiker sighed. "Is this whole soulmate thing your way of reaching out for attention?"

"Why don't you believe me?"

"Because you're not a royal. If you were, your uncle would be a royal, and I'd be a royal. It's impossible for you to have a soulmate, Kaerius, that's why nobody believes you."

Kaerius picked at the kelp. The fish watched him like they were judging him. Their bulging eyes never moved. "I do have one, which is why I can't travel west with you. I don't want to be left on my own, but I can't leave without my soulmate. I'll die."

Jaiker tilted his head. Kaerius only ever radiated anger and boredom. Now, his eyes were filled with all kinds of emotions, just like a humans eyes would. "Have you connected the bond?"

"You believe me?" Kaerius asked, snapping his head in his direction. His black hair floated against the current.

Jaiker quickly shook his head. "No, I'm just entertaining the idea, so you get your answers. I know a little about soulmates."

"Well, I tried to waken the bond within the human too, so he would believe me and could help get rid of it. I connected our skin underwater, but I don't think anything happened."

"That is the correct method. Usually, soulmates are exclusively two Thalassic Mortals, and that's why touching skin in the sea will spark the bond. It's sporadic that humans will ever be chosen. It makes life very difficult. You live in the sea, and they live on land. It's not practical."

"I'm aware of that," Kaerius mumbled, thinking to when the human scrambled back across the rocks. "Is there a way I can get onto the land?"

"Why in the deep sea would you want to go on land?" Jaiker looked horrified.

"So I can terrorise the human until he helps me get rid of the bond. When he visits the rocks, I can only get so close. He always has the option of running back to the sand."

Jaiker pulled at his grey beard. The sand from the ocean floor stuck at the bottom of it. "You can go on land, but only if the bond has awoken within the human. I think there's a time limit to how long you can stay on land for, and I don't think it's very long. Also, once the bond has awoken in both soulmates, there's another step to sealing your souls together forever."

Kaerius had started to scowl at the thought of visiting the land and being among humans. The idea churned his stomach. "What's the last step?" he asked.

Jaiker had begun to smirk, twirling his beard around his fingers. "If you're speaking the truth about having a soulmate, then you'll find out, one way or another."

* * * * *

At 7:15 the next morning, Rowan woke up to the sight of his wooden floor, and the painful beeping of his alarm. His head was leaning over the side of the bed, and all the blood rushed to his face. As smoothly as he could, Rowan let himself flop out of bed and onto the wood. His neck ached, and so did his chest.

Rowan felt ill. It wasn't the sickness kind, but the cold type where his whole face throbbed, he couldn't breathe from his nose, when he moved his eyes it made his headache worse and is throat screamed when he thought about eating any crunchy food.

Rowan groaned and punched the bedside table behind him. His alarm fell off and stopped screeching when it smashed on the ground.

He stared at his ceiling for almost ten minutes before plucking up the strength to peel himself off the ground. Rowan took his time to get ready. Every joint and muscle ached; he felt like he had aged 50 years overnight. When he dragged himself down the stairs and into the kitchen, his mother was seated at the table, staring into a cup of coffee.

The dark circles around Mandy's eyes had returned, and her stare was as lifeless as a statue. Rowan edged around her, trying to be as quiet as possible, though Mandy's eyes followed him.

"You're ill," she said, and her voice sounded computer generated.

"I'm not," Rowan mumbled.

"You look ill."

"You look ill." Rowan turned, ready to judge. "Going on another hunt?"

"Yes. Tomorrow evening."

Rowan let the silence drag out. "Well, I hope it's you who gets dragged off the boat this time." Rowan didn't want to stick around for her to respond, but he wasn't entirely out of the room when his mother stood up.

"When are you going to forgive me for that?" Mandy asked, her voice still lacking emotion.

"When you can look me in the eye and mean it when you say you're sorry." Rowan continued moving through the house until he was standing on his porch, stopping to take a breath. It wasn't nice to live in a house swarmed with tension. Almost dying was still haunting every thought. Rowan wasn't quite ready to forgive and move on.

He crossed the dirt road and weaved through the mud path, wanting to sit on the sand dune like he usually did when he had spare time. A face watching Rowan from the water stopped him before he made it to the sand.

"You've got to be kidding me," he muttered. Instead of fearing the Sea Creature, Rowan, with irritation already in him to fuel his rage, stormed down the dune and towards the rocks. The sun beat down on him, and the seagulls screeched above. Rowan turned his hands into fists when he stopped a metre away from the edge. "Why are you stalking me?" Rowan asked bitterly. The creature opened his mouth to say something, but Rowan didn't wait for an answer. "I want you to leave. You're not going to kill me, so just give up already."

Kaerius raised a brow. His stare was more thoughtful than grumpy. He had touched Rowan's skin in the sea water. It didn't look like the bond had awoken within the human. "No kill," he said, eyeing the way Rowan clenched his jaw. Angry didn't suit him.

"Then why the hell did you grab me yesterday?"

"Wake up bond."

Rowan dug his nails into his palm. "There is no bond!" Rowan hissed. "You're delusional, and a liar and a... and..." Rowan's hand quickly nursed his chest. It burned.

"And?" Kaerius asked, wanting to hear the insults. The human's flustered cheeks were rather amusing.

"And..." Rowan rasped a gasp and doubled over in pain. He fell to one knee, hurting his skin on the rough surface. His throat felt like he had gulped a burning hot drink, and it stuck in his chest.

"Human?" Kaerius moved closer. Blonde hair had fallen over the human's eyes.

Rowan's lips pressed together as he grimaced in pain. His heart was regularly beating, so he didn't feel like he was having a heart attack. He felt as though his organs were on fire. His breath was hot in his mouth.

Kaerius moved right next to the rock and held on. If it were not for the bond, he would feel nothing at all. Now, he would admit that he was mildly concerned. "Bond?" he asked.

Rowan proceeded to ignore him, resting a hand on the rock to steady himself. He whimpered from the burn.

Kaerius's concern spread, and he reached out to tap the human on the back of the hand. Rowan flinched away from him for a good reason. He didn't want to get scratched and poisoned.

"I think... I think I'm dying," Rowan breathed and rolled onto his side, curling up into a ball.

"Not Thalassic Mortal's fault." Kaerius sighed at his dramatic behaviour, dipping his mouth underwater. He sucked up a mouthful of salt water and spat it in Rowan's face.

Rowan scrunched his eyes shut, groaning in disgust. "Ugh gross," he muttered, wiping his face. The burning started to mellow, and Rowan thought it was going. Instead, it turned icy cold, and he felt like his organs were freezing over. "I'm definitely dying!" He held his stomach as it ached.

Kaerius rested his chin on the rocks when Rowan's body started to tremble. "Kaerius thinks bond. Human thinks dead. Hmm."

"Go get help!" Rowan cried and gasped at the air.

Kaerius reached out and poked Rowan on the forehead. "Bond."

"It's not the damn bond!" Rowan yelled and slapped the sea creature's hand away. As the coldness spread to his head, Rowan held it in his hands, flexing his body and crying out quietly. Maybe he was having a stroke.

He continued to lie in pain on the rocks for a minute more. The shore was getting louder, the wind whistled as if it was going straight through his ears, and the seagulls squawked like they were only a few feet above him. Everything was getting intense and loud and too much until... suddenly it wasn't.

Everything stopped as if Rowan had woken himself up from a nightmare. Though, he was still on the rocks with a sea creature watching him from the water.

Rowan's eyes fixed on the Thalassic Mortal. Almost instantly, his deep purple eyes started to draw Rowan in, hypnotising him, entrancing him like they did in his dreams.