Falling In The Deep Blue

~ 47 ~

Eleazar's P.O.V.

"HUMAN!!"

"There is a human down here!"

"TAKE HIM!"

Hundreds of voices were screaming, shouting, growling around me, but the only thing I was able to see, was Trystan. My boy, staring right back at me with those beautiful, beautiful eyes that I had missed so much. Although my vision was still blurry from my lack of food, sleep and strength, I could see them so clearly.

And then, everything went really fast. From one second to the other, all of the attention that had been on me, shifted onto Trystan. Merpeople were swimming into every direction, most of them scared to death, since they had never seen a human before. How could they be scared of someone so soft and pretty as my Trys, though?

At the same time as two of the mermen officials grabbed Trystan's arms to take him away, a merman with a familiar looking face shot up to me and began to release my wrists from the seaweed that was holding them together and tying me to the pillar behind me.

"Ovicto?!" I gasped, my vision sharpening, allowing me to take a closer look at my former 'Human Studies' teacher.

"Listen carefully," he whispered into my ears, while still fumbling with the seaweed. "When you're untied, I need you to swim up to the surface as fast as you can and find Keith's boat, it's nearby Moonlight Island."

"But.." I protested, my eyes still fixed on Trystan, who was trying to escape the three mermen who were holding him. One of them must have noticed me and hissed at the other two. Their dark green eyes narrowed. "We'll take care of Trystan, don't worry! We'll meet you up there!" Ovicto said. "Go now!"

With the little strength that I had left in my body, I shot upwards, trying to ignore the feeling inside my chest that was trying to pull me back to Trystan.

"Eleazar!" a deep, raspy voice shouted after me, but I ignored it.

"Stop right there or he is going to die!"

Those words made me turn around and look back down. I felt the blood in my veins freeze as I saw that one of the mermen who had captured Trystan, was holding a shell to his neck.

"Get back here, or we're going to kill your little friend here." he hissed, an evil smirk on his face. My vision turned red in rage. How dare he threaten my boyfriend? How dare he?!

I was ready to swim back down and tear that merman apart, but before I could do so, I witnessed how Ovicto's fist wiped the smirk off of that guy's face with one single sweep. "Get out of here, now!" he shouted up to me, as the other merman started to attack him as well, while the third one, to my horror, started to strip Trystan of his diving accessories.

Trystan was doing his best to defend himself, kicking and scratching his opponent, but it was hopeless. I wanted to swim down and help him, but an arm around my neck was keeping me from moving. "Not so fast, traitor." I shuddered at Ethuranell's voice so close to me.

"Get...off...me..!" I managed to say while the King was cutting off my gills. Gasping for water to fill my lungs, I had difficulties following the scenario beneath me.

The merman had managed to take off the huge bottle on Trystan's back, which I knew he needed to breathe. Panic rushed through my body. How were we supposed to get out of here alive?

"Not my Grandson's boyfriend, you dirty little fucker!!" a female voice screeched and out of nowhere, Aquinnah appeared, shortly followed by Meriel and my Mother. The three of them tackled the merman that was holding Trystan and fought of any others that were trying to get ahold of the boy.

"He..needs..air!" I groaned, still trying to fight off Ethuranell. I could see that Trystan was fighting to stay conscious, with his oxygen bottle slowly floating down to the bottom of the ocean. Oh Poseidon, anyone, please help!

"He's going to die." Ethuranell said, "because of you." I couldn't see his face, but I knew that he was smirking. And I knew that he was right.

"NOOO!" I screamed, and with one powerful stroke of my tail, I managed to fight off Ethuranell.

With adrenaline rushing through my body, giving me the exact amount of power that I needed, I shot down, wrapped one arm around Trystan's shoulders and pulled him back up with me. I felt pairs of hands trying to get ahold of my tail, trying to stop me, but I was faster than them.

I felt like my body was loosing its mind. My heart was threatening to jump out of my chest because of the feeling of having him so close to me again, my brain was screaming at my muscles to keep going and my stomach was turning at the thought of everything that could go wrong.

I knew they were behind me. I knew that if I wouldn't make it to the surface in time, then Trystan would drown. He was already unconscious, his eyes closed and his lips slightly parted. How would I be able to live with myself, knowing that he died because of me?

But finally, after an ordeal of fighting to keep going, to keep swimming, I was able to see the outline of Keith's boat.

One quick look over my shoulder told me that I had to hurry if I wanted to get Trystan and me on the boat in time. There were at least ten mermen following us.

As my head finally broke through the surface, the feeling of air hitting my face felt heavenly. Keith was leaning over the edge of his boat, his eyes widening as he saw Trystan's lifeless body.

"Help him, help him breathe!" I gasped, using the last bit of my strength to get Trystan up so that Keith could take him and pull him onto the boat.

I helplessly watched Keith as he started pumping my boyfriend's chest, over and over again, trying to get his lungs to work again. "We need to get away from here." I shouted, the shadows of the mermen following us coming closer and closer.

"Turn on the engine." Keith said, nodding in direction of a lever in the front of the boat. His voice sounded shaky. I used both of my arms to lift myself onto the boat and wiggled myself to the lever, pulling it down with my fingertips. It worked and the boat started moving.

"What now?!"

"The steering wheel! Get us back to the beach!"

"Come on, buddy, come on!" Keith shouted at Trystan, his voice laced with raw panic.

My hands clasping around the wheel, I started sobbing. This couldn't be happening. I felt so useless, so lost as I watched Trystan die in his best friend's arms.

It was my fault.

It was all my fault.