The rumors didn't leave her mind.
No matter how much noise filled the town, no matter how many faces she saw during the day, the words she heard at the market kept returning like waves hitting the same rock again and again.
The Sea King…Humans killed him…Ships disappeared…Monster…
Neraya sat near the window of her room, her elbow resting on the wooden frame as she stared at the distant line where the ocean met the sky. From here, the water looked calm, almost harmless, nothing like the endless kingdom hidden beneath it.
Nothing like the place she left behind without regret.
She had told herself she didn't care when her father died.
She had believed it.
Even now, when she thought of him, she didn't feel grief. She didn't miss his voice, didn't remember any warmth, didn't wish he was still alive. He had never been the kind of father anyone could love. He ruled with fear, spoke only when necessary, and looked at her like she was another responsibility instead of a daughter.
So why did the rumors bother her?
Her fingers tapped lightly against the window.
Because the story didn't make sense.
That was all.
Not emotion.
Not love.
Just… doubt.
Her father had been feared by the entire ocean. Even the elders lowered their heads when he spoke. The currents obeyed him, the guards never questioned him, and no enemy had ever dared to challenge him openly.
So how had humans killed him?
Humans were loud, careless, weak compared to the creatures of the deep. They feared storms, feared darkness, feared anything they couldn't see.
Her father lived in darkness.
He controlled storms.
He was the last person who should have died in a simple battle.
Unless it wasn't a battle.
The thought came quietly, but once it appeared, it refused to leave.
Unless something else happened.
Unless someone helped them.
Her jaw tightened.
"No," she muttered under her breath.
It didn't matter.
Whatever happened in the ocean had nothing to do with her anymore.
She left.
She chose to leave.
The kingdom could drown for all she cared.
But even as she told herself that, her eyes moved back to the sea again.
And stayed there.
The next morning, the town felt more restless than usual.
The wind was stronger, pushing dust through the streets and making the wooden signs outside the shops creak loudly. Fishermen gathered near the docks earlier than normal, their voices low, their movements tense.
Neraya noticed it immediately.
Something was wrong.
She walked slowly through the marketplace, pretending to look at the stalls while listening to every conversation around her.
"…told you the sea's not right…"
"…net came back empty again…"
"…water was freezing last night…"
"…bad sign, I'm telling you…"
She stopped near a table covered with ropes and hooks, her back turned to the group of sailors talking behind her.
"Storm coming?" one of them asked.
The older man shook his head.
"No storm. Worse than a storm."
"What, ghosts now?"
The man lowered his voice.
"You ever hear the stories about the old Sea King?"
Neraya didn't move.
Not even a breath.
The others laughed nervously.
"That again?"
"You laugh, but the old ones say the sea went quiet after he died. Too quiet. Like something was waiting."
Her fingers curled slowly against her palm.
Another voice spoke.
"They said humans killed him, right?"
"That's what the kingdom sailors claimed."
"Claimed?"
The older man nodded.
"Never made sense to me. Humans don't kill something like that without help."
Her heart skipped once.
Just once.
But it was enough.
Without help.
The words felt heavier than the wind pushing against her back.
She forced herself to pick up one of the ropes on the table, turning it slowly like she was interested in the knots.
Her ears stayed on the conversation.
"Help from who?" someone asked.
The old man shrugged.
"Who knows. Maybe his own kind."
Silence followed that.
Short.
Uncomfortable.
Like even saying the idea felt wrong.
Neraya put the rope down and walked away before they could say anything else.
Her steps were calm, steady, controlled.
But inside, her thoughts were moving faster than the tide.
His own kind.
Mermaids, guards, elders, the temple.
The memory flashed in her mind before she could stop it.
The night she heard whispers near the temple halls.
The way the guards stopped talking when she entered.
The way no one looked at her when the news of his death was announced.
At the time, she thought it was fear.
Now…
It felt like something else.
Her breathing grew slightly heavier as she reached the edge of the harbor.
The sea stretched wide in front of her, dark under the cloudy sky.
She hated it.
She hated the sound of it.
Hated the smell of it.
Hated the way it always felt like it was watching her.
And yet she couldn't stop looking.
"You look like you're fighting with the ocean again."
She didn't need to turn.
Kael.
Of course.
"You follow me too much," she said.
He walked up beside her, resting his arms on the railing.
"You come here too much," he replied.
She didn't answer.
The waves hit the rocks below, sending cold spray into the air.
For a while, neither of them spoke.
Then he said quietly,
"You heard more stories today."
Not a question.
A statement.
Her eyes moved slightly toward him.
"You listen too much," she said.
"You think too much."
She almost smiled at that.
If only he knew.
Kael watched the water for a moment before speaking again.
"My grandfather used to tell stories about the sea," he said.
She stayed silent.
"He said the ocean keeps secrets longer than people do."
Her chest tightened slightly.
"That sounds like something old people say," she replied.
He shrugged.
"Maybe. But he also said the most dangerous thing isn't the monster you see… it's the one you don't."
Her fingers tightened against the railing.
Don't react.
Don't show anything.
Don't let him see.
"You believe in monsters?" she asked.
He looked at her.
"I believe in lies."
That answer made her turn.
For a moment, their eyes met, and she felt that strange feeling again like he was looking too close, like he might see something she didn't want anyone to see.
She looked away first.
"Then you understand the world," she said quietly.
He frowned slightly.
"You talk like you've seen more than this town."
She froze for a fraction of a second.
Too close.
Again.
She forced her expression back to calm.
"Everyone has a past," she said.
"Yours sounds heavy."
"You don't know anything about it."
"Then tell me."
Her eyes turned cold.
"No."
The word came out sharper than she intended.
Kael didn't speak again.
The wind howled louder, the waves crashing harder against the rocks below.
Neraya stared at the horizon, her thoughts dark and restless.
Humans killed him.
That was the story.
But the story felt wrong now.
Too simple, too clean, too easy.
And if there was one thing she understood better than anyone…
It was that nothing in the ocean was ever simple.
Her voice dropped to a whisper, almost lost in the sound of the waves.
"…What really happened to you?"
She didn't know if she was asking the sea, her father or herself.
But the question stayed there, hanging in the cold air, unanswered.
And deep beneath the surface, far beyond the reach of human eyes…
The truth waited.
Silent, hidden.
Not gone, not forgotten.
Just waiting for her to come back and find it.