Aria curled up on the stone floor, her hands hugging her knees to her chest. The dim light of the algae seemed to mock her, casting long shadows in the cave. She didn't know how many days had passed since shed been brought here. A week, she assumed. A week to long.

Her stomach twisted at the memory of the fish, the way Kaelen had forced her to eat it. She felt defeated. She was nothing more than a prisoner.

Aria squeezed her eyes shut. If she focused hard enough, maybe she could forget this place for a while. A small smile found its way on her lips as she remembered the say she became a big sister.

~

Aria was ten years old when her parents sat her down in the living room, their faced lit up with excitement. Aria had been confused at first, glancing between them as they shared a look.

Her mother placed a hand on her belly and smiled softly. "Aria, you're going to be a big sister."

The words took a moment to sink in. "What?" She blinked, her eyes wide. "Really?"

Her dad laughed, nodding. "Yes, sweetie. There are two babies on the way."

"Two?" Her voice shot up an octave. Twins?

Aria jumped up from the couch, bouncing on the balls of her feet as her excitement bubbled over. "I get to be a big sister to twins! Can I help name them? Please?"

Her parents laughed, and her mother ruffled her hair. "We'll let you help, of course."

When the twins, Sabrina and Tommy, were born months later, aria had been in awe. She remembered holding each of them in her arms for the first time, tiny fingers gripping her own. From that day on, she took her role as big sister seriously – playing with them, reading them stories and even helping her parents when they couldn't settle them.

As they grew older, Aria happily took to the role of the annoyed big sister. But she never felt old enough to not give in and play. She had always been there for them.

~

The warmth of the memory settled in her chest for a moment, but soon a cold shiver broke through it, dragging her back to the present. Aria hugged her knees tighter, her chest aching. Her parents, her siblings – she missed them. What would they be thinking now? Were they searching for her? Would they know to look beneath the water? Or had they already presumed her dead and drowned, lost to the sea forever?

She shook her head, trying to push the thoughts away. They were too painful.

A splash resonated in the cave causing aria to look up. Kaelen's head popped out of the water and watched her carefully. His presence was no longer something that made her flinch, but rather something she had grown numb too. She was too tiered to resist, too exhausted to fight him. Every ounce of defiance had drained out of her since the fish incident, leaving her feeling hollow and lost.

Kaelen swam closer and placed a small fish placed on the floor beside her. Aria stared at the fish, her stomach twisting with hunger and disgust. She knew she needed to eat, but the raw, slimy texture of the fish made her want to gag. Still, the gnawing hunger was relentless, a reminder that if she didn't keep her strength up, she would never find a way out of his.

A shudder went up her spine at the thought of eating that. But he didn't say anything. Didn't tell her to eat in that strange language of his. He just watched her with that calculating look in his glowing eyes. His silence unsettled her as much as his words might have. Aria shifted her gaze away, pretending not to notice him.

"Ril yenonaka?" Kaelen questioned softly, his voice breaking the silence. "Yen valor Alaria."

Aria glanced at the fish. Her stomach churned with hunger, but she couldn't brig herself to eat another raw fish. She was at war with herself, with her morals and customs. But she also felt like giving in – like letting him win.

Kaelen sighed, swimming closer and allowing his head to rest on his arms, mere centimetres away from where Aria sat. He said something else in his strange language, he sounded disappointed, perhaps even frustrated. He eyed the fish pointedly.

Aria's mind was a storm of conflicting emotions. Every part of her wanted to reject the food, to hold onto some semblance of her humanity. But her hunger clawed at her insides, a brutal reminder of her reality.

She stared at the fish for what felt like an eternity. Then, with trembling hands, she picked it up. She didn't think – didn't let herself dwell on what she was doing. She bit into the raw flesh, trying to ignore the slimy texture and the taste of salt and blood that filled her mouth. She forced herself to chew, to swallow, focusing on one thing and one thing only: survival. Each bit of the fish felt like a betrayal – not just to her body, but to who she was. She never would have imagined herself here, choking down the raw fish flesh just to stay alive. But she forced herself to swallow. This wasn't about dignity anymore. This was about survival. And survival meant sacrificing pieces of herself, one bit at a time.

If she wanted to escape – if she ever hoped to get home – she needed her strength.

Kaelen's eyes remained fixed on her, watching intently, but he didn't speak. Aria kept her gaze on the ground, refusing to meet his eyes as she finished the fish in silence. What would her siblings think if they saw her like this? Were they waiting for her, asking when she'd come home?

Kaelen sat up, a smile on his pale lips. He said something else, too fast for her to realise what he said, before he nudged her, getting her attention.

"Ilan." He nodded his head in an exaggerated up-and-down motion. "Nehnah." This time he shook his head side to side.

It took a moment for Aria's sluggish mind to catch up. He's teaching me, she realised.

Her first instinct was to bristle, to resist learning anything from him. Why would she need to know his language? But she was so drained, too exhausted to argue, to hollow to put up any real resistance. So, she complied, nodding weakly and repeating the words under her breath.

Kaelen seemed pleased with her compliance, a small smile tugging at the corner of his lips. He continued, pointing to different things. He pointed to the water. Aria knew that one, and she quickly spoke before she realised what she was doing. Perhaps it was out of habit – like being in a classroom again.

"Syran." She said. She knew the term for water already, and in a weird way, she was excited to share that knowledge with him.

Kaelen laughed a little before shaking his head. Aria frowned. Had she misunderstood?

Kaelen pointed to the jar holding her drinking water. "Syran," he nodded. Then he pointed to the water he was in, the sea or the ocean. "Lunara."

His amusement seemed genuine, and for a fleeting moment, Aria almost felt like she had shared a real interaction with him. But it was quickly overshadowed by the cold realisation that she was still his prisoner.

A smile graced his lips as Aria repeated after him. Kaelen encouraged her to repeat the word a few more times, making where her pronunciation was correct before he continued to the next word. A rock, a crab, fish she already knew but she repeated anyway, then seaweed, followed by light and dark.

Aria had paused after that, her mind foggy. She strung together a pathetic sentence, telling him the cave was dark – pointing around her – and then up to the ceiling, indicating the surface and saying "light."

Kaelen nodded by hand't said anything else about it. For a moment, Aria thought she had managed to communicate something important, but his silence quickly smothered that flicker of hope.

He continued to teach her, but her mind began to drift once more. It reminded her of school, of teacher droning on about things she didn't care about, her focus slipping away.

~

It was lunchtime, Aria sat at a small table together with her best friend Holly, a romance novel open information of her. She couldn't stop giggling as she recounted the plot to holly who leaned in eagerly, hanging on to her every word.

"And then," Aria whispered, her cheeks flushing pink, "they finally kissed, but it wasn't just any kiss. It was that kind of kiss."

Holly's eyes widened in understanding, and she burst into laughter, causing Aria to clamp her hand over her mouth to stop from giggling louder.

"Did you skip past the sexy scene?" Holly teased.

"No!" Aria whispered fiercely, her face burning. "Well maybe. Just a little."

Holly grinned, nudging her with her elbow. "You've got to read those parts. They're the best bits!"

Aria laughed, shaking her head. She loved romance novels, but until now she couldn't bring herself to read the scenes without blushing like mad. The way her favourite character fell in love, longing, the tension – it always made her heart race.

~

Those carefree moments felt like a lifetime ago. The easy laughter with Holly, the rush of excitement from her books – it all seemed so distant, like a dream she could barely remember. Here, in this cave, in Kaelen's presence, all of that seemed part of a different world.

She glanced at Kaelen, who was still speaking, his voice soft, patient. He seemed almost kind, but aria wasn't fooled. This wasn't about kindness. It was about control. He wanted her to understand him – so she would obey him more easily. And for now, she had no choice but to play along

Just get through it, she told herself. Comply, and maybe he'll leave you alone.

She felt hollow, the freedom she once had reduced to a distant memory. Back then, the world had been hers to explore, full of choices, of possibilities. How she didn't even have a choice in the language which she spoke.

Kaelen finally, watching her with a curious look. He said something that sounded almost approving. Was it praise? Had she actually managed to earn some approval form him? She didn't care.

Aria gave a half-hearted nod, her mind already drifting elsewhere. She didn't care about his approval. She just wanted to survive and one day get back home.

Kaelen leaned away from the wall where Aria sat. He paused, glancing over his shoulder back at her, as if considering something, before diving under the water and swimming away.

As the silence fell once more, aria sat back against the cold stone wall, her head resting once more on her knees. Memories of her past life – her real life – swirled in her mind. She clung to them, holding on to the person she had been, the people she had loved. It was all she had left. She pictures teaching the twins to ride their bikes, reading them bedtime stories and laughing along with them until their stomachs hurt. She feared it could be a life she might never return to.

The girl who curled up with romance novels and whispered secrets with illy over lunch seemed like someone else entirely. Someone who didn't have to face the raw, primal urge to rush I've. The thought made her heart ache.

Would she ever be that Aria again? Each day spent in this cave, beneath Kaelen's watchful gaze, she felt a part of her slipping away. She thought of her partners – would they recognise her now? Would they understand what she'd had to become just to stay alive? What she had gone through.

I'm still me, she thought, her fists clenching at her sides. No matter what he does, I'm still Aria.

Translation: "Ril yenonaka?" = how are you? "Yen valor, Alaria." = you eat, Alaria "Syran," = water "Lunara." = the ocean