Kaerius gripped the sand when his heart started aching. His chest tightened and the back of his neck tingled with discomfort. He felt an overwhelming need to protect and comfort someone. That someone was Rowan, and Kaerius felt his soul screaming for him to be as close as he could.

Kaerius rubbed circles on his chest and muttered, "stop being so upset, it's hurting." Even though Kaerius wished Rowan could hear him, he was thankful there was no mind link. The human talked a lot out loud; he could only imagine the chaos going on inside of Rowan's head.

After almost giving up waiting, Kaerius's uncle returned with Jaiker.

"Look," Laiken said, moving his father to float in front of Kaerius. "Look into his eyes. You'll see it."

Jaiker took his son's tone very seriously and stared at Kaerius. It didn't take long for him to see what his son had seen. "Oh goddess, what in the deep seas have you done," he whispered.

Kaerius looked away when Jaiker's eyes stared too intensely. The attention was never on him, and Kaerius wished he hadn't told them, but he needed their information on bonds. They would no more than human hunters. It wasn't natural for humans to have soulmates, so why would they know more?

"I told you, I have a soulmate, and I need to get rid of the bond before it's too late," Kaerius said, with a heart that throbbed because his soulmate was upset. "How long do I have to get rid of it?"

Jaiker was too busy staring at Laiken to listen. "We can't let the others know about this," Jaiker said quietly but quickly.

"Why not?" Laiken asked.

"If they find out that Kaerius has a soulmate despite not being a royal, and that soulmate is human, they will exclude him from the group and never let him join any others. They will make sure he is alone until he is forced onto land."

"Mmm. A little dramatic, don't you think?" Kaerius said, and they both stared at him.

"No, Kaerius. They'll see this bond as a punishment from the Goddess. It makes no sense that you have been paired with a human, especially when you're not worthy of the bonding of souls."

"I've done nothing wrong," Kaerius argued.

"If others assume that you're bad, then we'll be viewed the same way." Jaiker gripped his long grey beard. His eyes then glinted with a darker shine. "Have you done something to deserve this?"

"What could I have possibly done to deserve a lifetime bond with a human soul?" Kaerius scoffed.

"Kaerius has a point," Laiken said. "This is unheard of because the Goddess does not dabble in mortal lives. There's the dark sea and the light sea for that once we pass on. There must be a reason as to why Kaerius has been given this... this curse."

* * * * *

Rowan kept his head in his palms even after he had stopped crying. He felt his dad's hand on his back, rubbing it gently. Michael said nothing as Rowan calmed down, and Rowan didn't want to face him.

After a while of sniffing away his sadness and drying his face, Rowan sat up and connected his gaze with his fathers.

Michael smiled and patted his back. "I'm guessing you haven't been able to talk with your mother about how almost dying made you feel," he said. It wasn't often that Rowan broke down. He was an emotional person, but he didn't struggle with the ones that made it hard to smile. "You can stay here for a few days if you want. I can drive you to university if it's too far to walk."

Rowan shook his head. He couldn't be away from Kaerius for that long. Being at his dad's house was already hurting Rowan in ways he could barely describe. "I can't," he whispered and stared down at his hands.

"Why not?"

Rowan, this time, inhaled a long and calming breath to stabilise himself. He wanted to tell his father everything, but he felt so scared. "All my uni work is at home."

"We can go pick it up. It might do you good to be away from the beach. You've had such a traumatic experience there-"

"No," Rowan said, shaking his head again. The sorrow seeped up his throat. He felt so alone, and he was nervous that if he told his dad, he wouldn't just feel alone, he would be alone. "I have to be by the sea because... because of him."

"Who?"

"The Thalassic Mortal," Rowan said, gripping his hair in distress.

Michael sat back, staring at his son with eyes that revealed only focus. "What's going on, Rowan?"

"The sea creature who pulled me off the boat- he, I mean, we, uh..." Rowan damned his stuttering. He didn't perform well under pressure. "We have a weird supernatural bond that binds our souls, and I need to get rid of it before it's too late and I need your help."

Michael's stillness seemed to attract more attention. He didn't blink, he didn't twitch. It was as if he had turned to stone.

Rowan's eyes kept moving to his father, then back to his hands, then to his father, then around the room, then back to his hands. "Please say something," he whispered. Michael said nothing, and his stare started to morph into one of grave concern. "We um, we both feel it, and we both want to get rid of it. That's why I'm here. I hoped you'd know how to remove a bond like this and-"

"You need to leave."

"What?" Rowan's head snapped in his dad's direction.

"Now. You need to leave now."

"But- why? I need your help. I don't want the bond dad!" Rowan said desperately. "You need to help me remove it!"

Michael quickly stood up and turned towards the garden, only then his face changed to utter despair. "I can't do that Rowan. Please leave my house and don't come back." Michael's hand rested on his ribs as if to mask the sound of his heart ripping apart.

"Dad," Rowan said with such sadness, Michael scrunched his eyes shut. "I can't do this by myself."

"Go, son. Please," Michael said without opening his eyes. He heard Rowan hover from foot to foot before he walked towards him. When a hand touched his shoulder, Michael pushed his son back and scurried away as if Rowan's touch would hurt him. "Get out of my house!" Michael yelled as Rowan fell into the table.

Pain oozed up Rowan's back, and tears fell from his eyes once again. Everything, at that moment, felt like it was on fire. As Rowan looked at his father through tears, his brain screamed at him to get out of there. Rowan wanted to beg and cry harder and apologise and explain until his throat hurt, but his legs started moving. Rowan sprinted out of the house without closing the front door or looking back. He ran as fast as he could with only one destination in mind.

When the front door slammed against the wall, Michael's legs buckled, and he fell onto the tiles. He curled over, gripping his chest and forming his own pool of tears on the floor. "Not my son," he whispered, squeezing the fabric of his t-shirt until his fingers throbbed. "I need him in my life. Please," he said, looking up, "you've punished me enough."

* * * * *

Rowan ran all the way back to the beach. His lungs were burning, his legs felt heavy, and he had angered a lot of people on the road by not stopping when he crossed. Rowan couldn't stop because if he did, he knew he wouldn't be able to get back up again.

The tide was on its way out when Rowan reached the rocks. He didn't stop moving until he was right at the end. Only then did he allow himself to fall to the ground. The sea came up to his waist. Rowan was already so out of breath; the cold from the water made it impossible to breathe.

He pulled his knees up to his chest and cried silently for what felt like hours.

The tide eventually moved from the rock, and Rowan was left to dry in the sun. His eyes were red raw, and he had never felt so empty. He didn't know how much time had passed until Kaerius's head popped above the surface.

Kaerius's chest twanged with pain at the wretchedness on Rowan's face. He looked distraught and broken. "Ask father?" he asked, moving to the rock and placing a webbed hand on the surface. It was hot from the sun.

Rowan didn't respond.

"Father angry?" Kaerius asked, wanting to move closer so Rowan looked at him, but he didn't want to touch him either.

Rowan still didn't respond. He only hugged himself harder, trying to hold back more tears.

Kaerius pulled himself up onto the rock and sat next to him. "End bond. Father know how?" he asked.

Rowan shook his head with a wobbling sigh. "I think my dad just disowned me."

"Dis-owned?" Kaerius repeated.

"I don't think he wants me to be his son anymore," Rowan said, and his voice cracked, and a tear ran down his cheek.

Kaerius's frown was laced with anger. It wasn't because Rowan was his soulmate, it was because someone had upset the human so much, water leaked from his eyes. Kaerius knew that when the eyes seeped, humans, in most cases, were very upset.

"I kill father?" he asked.

Rowan finally turned to look at him. He didn't expect to see purple eyes of worry staring back. Then Rowan broke down for the third time that day. The pain was too much. His head hurt already, but he wasn't strong enough to keep his emotions inside. He dropped his head into his hands and sobbed quietly.

Kaerius had a moment of panic at hearing such heartfelt cries. Thalassic Mortals comforted one another by wrapping their tails around each other. Wrapping arms around Rowan felt too strange. Kaerius looked at Rowan's legs. They were nothing like his tail.

Rowan gasped when something wet, cold and heavy crushed him. He stared at the turquoise tail that had been flopped onto his lap. He side-eyed Kaerius with a questioning frown.

"No cry," Kaerius said, a little embarrassed, but he felt almost every ounce of Rowan's grief. He couldn't imagine how it would feel if they were fully connected. "Uncle find a way. End bond soon."

Rowan's eyes then glued to the tail that sprawled across him. Something inside of him mellowed from the touch of the cold scales. He couldn't tell if it was from the pain of the bond simmering down, or the caring gesture that made Rowan feel a little less out of his depth.

"We have to find a way before it ruins my life," Rowan said, sniffing and drying his tears with the back of his hand. If his father didn't want him around with a Thalassic Mortal bonded to his soul, then his mother's reaction would be nothing short of an explosion.