The comment section has been a little quiet lately. I hope everyone is okay! :)

- Sian



"So... how do we do this?" Rowan asked, seawater filling his mouth and filtering through his gills. He and Kaerius stared up at the bottom of the boats.

"Should we put a hole in them or something?"

"Or stuff the engine with plants?"

"Or fish guts."

Rowan arched his brow, staring calmly at Kaerius's evil grin. "I wouldn't mind watching the boats sink," he thought. "but how do we do it without making it obvious?"

"We need a lot of force, and we all need to do it at the same time, so no hunters have the chance to throw spears while we're close to the surface and escape. Our tails are pretty powerful, though I don't know if they could put a hole in a boat." Kaerius's arms rested securely around Rowan's waist. They had barely let go of each other since they reconnected.

"Well, we need to think of something and fast."

Kaerius narrowed his eyes, studying Rowan while he thought about what to say. The trouble of sharing thoughts meant that Rowan could hear what he was thinking, and already knew what Kaerius wanted to say.

Rowan stared back, and it was his turn to narrow his eyes. "How would I even manipulate the water? I have no idea how to do that. Would it even work? I'd just look like an idiot."

"Ask the water to drown the boats. I'm sure it'll work."

"Water," Rowan said out loud with a blank face, "sink the boats." They watched the surface, and nothing happened. "See?" Rowan looked down to the sand and tried not to pout. "I don't know what I'm doing. Mum made commanding the sea sound easy."

"I think you need to want the boats to sink more than you've ever wanted anything else."

"It's not possible to want anything more than you."

Kaerius pursed his lips, trying desperately not to smile. Rowan had an absurd effect on him that made Kaerius find happiness even in the bleakest of situations. He wanted to say some snarky remark, but Kaerius's heart was too touched by his words to coat it with humour.

"Then try," he thought, moving close enough for their noses to touch. He gripped Rowan's shoulders and stared deeply into his light green eyes. "You can't give up unless you've tried with everything you've got. You have the power to end this; I know you do."

"What am I supposed to do?" Rowan thought, and his voice sounded like a whisper in Kaerius's head. "Am I supposed to drown them if they don't give us peace? Am I supposed to hurt them until they give us peace? Am I supposed to get Jack to curse them for revenge? Am I supposed to match their hate because I'm weak if I don't get angry?"

Kaerius felt warm specks of water near his eyes. Rowan's tears were carried away as soon as they left him, though Kaerius felt them just before they did, and he was glad that Rowan found the situation so emotional.

Rowan didn't need to turn into a monster to get revenge. "Show them how powerful you are. Show them that they have no right to make you feel this way. You are Rowan Solar, and whether they like it or not, you share their blood and the blood of Thalassic Mortal Royalty. They don't believe you'll come for them which is why they dared to park up on the island. Show them, Rowan." Kaerius's lips grazed Rowan's mouth. "Show them who you are."

Rowan closed his eyes, feeling Kaerius's hands gliding down his arms. Their lips still threatened to touch with every breath. Their tails wrapped around each other as they floated along the ocean floor.

"It's okay to be sympathetic towards those who hurt you if you have bad thoughts about hurting them to validate your own pain," Kaerius continued. "You're part human. It's in your nature to care so much. Considering other people's feelings doesn't make you weak; it makes you a better person."

Rowan buried his hands into the back of Kaerius's hair and said against his lips, "I love you... more than I ever thought possible."

Kaerius smiled against him. He understood. The love they shared was on a scale that frightened him in the beginning. Kaerius would do anything for Rowan, anything. Kaerius would give him every star in the sky if he could.

"I love you too," he said in English, just how Rowan had taught him.

Then, they kissed. Amid the chaos, a beautiful moment only felt right. Between two people who shared their souls, a kiss was always so much more. A kiss was a symbol of their adoration, an act of affection, a need to touch, to taste, to cherish, a way to tackle their never-ending cravings for each other, an action to heal the heart, a kiss for the soul.

"I definitely can't do this without you," Rowan thought as they hugged. "I was never meant to be alone. I see that now."

They held each other until they drifted near other Thalassic Mortals. They bowed at the couple and beamed when Rowan smiled.

"I think I should try again with the sea," Rowan thought. Kaerius agreed, now that Rowan didn't doubt himself as much. "But once the boats are unusable, I want to be the only one who goes up on the island."

"But-"

"I need to speak to the hunters and really try to make them see how much they're hurting us. I don't want them to feel intimidated, so I'll go alone."

"What if they attack you?"

"Then they'll regret it for the rest of their lives."

Kaerius glanced over to Michael and Mandy who were suggesting tying the boats to a long line of kelp plants. "What about your parents?"

"They only want to keep me safe, but I need to start making big decisions on my own." Rowan cupped Kaerius's face. "I need to get my legs back."

They surfaced half a mile away from the island, inhaling the cold October air.

"Sun wake soon," Kaerius said. The sky wasn't as dark as it was before Rowan entered the water. "We wait for light?"

"No, it's best to get rid of the boats while it's still dark and the hunters don't know what we're up to." Rowan slipped his shorts on when his legs returned. Kaerius would have to help him back to the island. Rowan was a strong swimmer, but his swimming skills were nothing compared to a Thalassic Mortal who could move miles in minutes.

Rowan held onto Kaerius and looked at the water around them. Some people would be overwhelmed in the deep ocean at night, but Rowan felt at home. "I don't know where to begin," he admitted.

"Start small," Kaerius suggested. "Try and make the water reach your hand." He pulled Rowan's hand ten inches above the surface.

"How?"

"I don't know. Just ask it."

"Water," Rowan said with a blank face.

"No. no, no," Kaerius shook his head. "Ask with meaning."

"Water, I love you, please help me."

Kaerius chuckled. "No. Rowan only love Kaerius."

Rowan rolled his eyes and tried to be serious. He relaxed his face and stared at the glittering sea until his eyes glazed over and all he captured was the soft surface bobbing in the moonlight. "Sea," he whispered. Rowan concentrated hard. He stared intensely at the water until Kaerius gasped, and he felt something cold moving up his arm.

Rowan looked at his elbow, and his eyes widened. Water was travelling up his forearm, twisting around his wrist and filling his palm. The water dripped back down into the sea like a fountain; never-ending. "I did it," he whispered, astonished.

"Wow." Kaerius held Rowan's wrist, and the water travelled over his fingers to get to Rowan's palm. "Amazing."

Rowan couldn't look away. He didn't really know how he was making the water defy gravity, but it worked, and Rowan could now tamper with the boats.

Kaerius took them closer to the island, so they could watch what would happen. Around twenty-five hunters crowded the small island. Ten speedboats were stationed all around it. Rowan wasn't sure how to get rid of the boats without ploughing through the hunters with a big wave.

"Tell the water to help. I'm sure it has a way," Kaerius thought as they bobbed side by side. He watched Rowan focus. The world around them focused too, and for a few seconds, nothing seemed to move, then everything moved all at once.

The water was suddenly choppy like the ocean floor was shaking. The hunters started looking around the island with spears pointed at the surface.

"Is there a storm coming?" Kaerius heard one of them ask and he smirked. A storm was indeed on its way, but not the storm they assumed.

"There's no wind," Someone else said as they all looked over the edge.

"Maybe there is a storm-" the hunter's voice was cut off by a loud bubbling noise.

Kaerius and Rowan watched as the boats around the island started to shake, slowly at first, then violently. The hunters huddled together with weapons pointed all around them.

The first boat to go under was the one that faced the boys. The boat was sucked under like a million hands yanked it from underneath.

"Woah," Kaerius breathed as another boat was sucked under, then another, and another. The hunters shouted at each other, but nobody dared do anything in case the boats pulled them under too.

When the last boat vanished under the waves, Kaerius and Rowan grinned with pride.

Kaerius turned his head towards Rowan, pleased that he showed the same gleaming eyes of excitement. "Never underestimate the power of the ocean," Kaerius thought, turning back to the island, amused by the silence as the hunters stood in disbelief. He then patted Rowan's back. "Come on. While they're speechless, let's tell them how horrible they are."