Shattered Memories

Rayan was quickly surrounded by sharks. They opened their mouths to reveal sharp teeth. Rayan’s body, who was seeing such a threat for the first time, shuddered. The sharks met each other’s eyes, and then rushed at Rayan with their teeth. Rayan reflexively shut his eyes, but there was no pain in his flesh.

When he opened my eyes, the cross section of the seaweed that was tied to my ankle was cut off with sharp teeth marks.

“Have fun with us. Child.”

Indeed, they thought that the act of chasing and being pursued with Rayan was simply a game. Rayan bit his lip and turned his back to run away. The distance didn’t close, but it wasn’t long before a shark laughed, shoulder to shoulder with him.

They weren’t indicating for him to run away. They were urging Rayan to go to the Black Sea, completely blocking them. That way, they didn’t have to take responsibility for Rayan’s death.

It was the border of the Black Sea.

Rayan looked for a chance to escape, but the sharks didn’t allow the slightest chance, having almost missed him earlier. Now it had really come to a dead end.

“Child. Little mermaid. Have you already given up?”

As Rayan was mentally driven and exhausted, his movements became slow. As if laughing at him, the shark shoved Rayan’s back with its snout. Its pointed snout pricked the tender flesh and it stung.

“…”

There was no sign of anything around him. He could feel the little sea creatures lurking and watching, but other than that, he lacked the protection he had hoped for.

“My God. What’s this fuss?”

Then, a low, distinctive voice rang out. Rayan could feel the sharks breaking their momentum and moving away from him little by little. There was a gap in the surrounding area, and someone could be seen through it.

Rayan turned his head towards the sound.

The first thing he saw was hair blacker than pitch black. Hair, as black as Rayan’s, was loosely tied together and swayed to and fro. The next thing he saw were purple eyes that stood out. His purple eyes were like amethysts. The mermaid, much taller than Rayan, raised her lips languidly and smiled.

“I came out because it was noisy, but it’s a pretty interesting scene.”

The mermaid glided towards him.

Rayan was nervous. Earlier, he had scattered the water droplets. It was a mermaid’s only rescue signal. It was late, so he didn’t expect much, so it was out of pure desperation. Someone miraculously saw the rescue signal and came, but it was the first time he had ever seen such a person.

Not all mermaids who inhabit Atisa knew each other’s faces. But that mermaid in front of him was an existence that he had never known. It was well stored, but he could feel the overflowing magical power at first glance.

“… Who?”

Rayan barely opened his mouth to ask. Then the other laughed seductively.

“What’s your name?”

It wasn’t the answer Rayan was hoping for.

“Child.”

“… I-it’s Rayan.”

Rayan answered, overwhelmed by the other’s aura. He wasn’t pressured, but he couldn’t help but respond.

“I see, Rayan.”

A white hand rested on his shoulder.

“How did you get here? Alone, on top of that.”

Haven’t you learned how dangerous it is? The gentle soothing voice relieved him of a little bit of tension. As Rayan lost his balance and stumbled, the other supported him so he wouldn’t fall. There was no sign of hardship.

“It’s just, I was just going somewhere…”

“Asha.”

A shark called him with a slightly dissatisfied expression and cut Rayan’s words halfway. His body stiffened again at the threatening look on the shakr.

“Get away.”

“Ah.”

Instead of giving another warning, the unknown mermaid stretched out his hand. His fingers had only twitched, and the disgruntled shark was pushed away. The other shark let out a sound of pain and then swam away completely. Rayan stared blankly at them, then looked up at the mermaid again.

He smiled softly. The eyes that had been looking to the side curved.

“My brothers have mistreated the little mermaid.”

“…Brother?”

“All races that have settled in the Black Sea are my brothers.”

His cold hand caressed Rayan’s cheek.

Rayan didn’t understand his words at first, but he slowly accepted it. After understanding, Rayan tensed up again. He made eye contact with him.

“What’s wrong. Suddenly got scared?”

Rayan shook his head as he tried to avoid averting his eyes to the side. It was surprising that mermaids lived in the Black Sea. It doesn’t belong to Atisa, but rather, it’s on the opposite side. But no matter what, he was the benefactor who saved Rayan from his time of crisis. He should not be afraid of his benefactor and turn a blind eye to him.

“… No.”

“Then that’s good. It would be sad to be hated by the young one of my kind.”

He ruffled Rayan’s hair. Rayan, still tense, did not know where to put his gaze as the hand that was messing up his hair was eventually taken off his head. When he raised his head, the other was looking somewhere. He immediately twisted the corners of his lips and smiled.

“It’s unfortunate, but it’s time to part.”

“Excuse me, the name….”

“Asha.”

Asha. Rayan repeated the name to himself. Come to think of it, I think the shark had called him that way earlier.

“Let us meet again. My little brethren.”

Asha lightly brushed his head with her hand and swam away smoothly. Rayan, who was dazed by his trajectory, heard a voice calling my name from afar. Rayan. Rayan. The call was getting closer and closer. After confirming who it was, Rayan bit his lip and approached.

“Rayan!”

It was Alle.

He must have been in a state of despair, seeing his state. When he saw that Rayan was safe, he hugged him tightly, then came to his senses and dropped him from his arms. His glaring eyes were sharp.

“Are you out of your mind?”

“Alle.”

“How many times have I… Rayan?”

As the tension was completely relieved, his eyelids became heavy.

""

“What’s wrong? Rayan, Rayan?”

As Alle held Rayan, his voice soon faded away.

———

It was very dark. Giggled laughter. Pain tingling on the back. Something using their fins to tap as if trying to play with him. Rayan was running away frantically.

‘Try to run away more. Little mermaid ah.’

‘You have to entertain us.’

An evil voice echoed from behind. Then his body shook and the image of the dark blue deep sea disappeared. Rayan took a deep breath and, startled by the snout in front of him, pulled him back.

“Shh. Rayan. It’s me. Alle.”

“…Alle?”

Alle then turned into a human. A youth with gray hair mixed with white hair looked at him. Rayan finally came to his senses and looked around. This was his room. Everything was familiar.

“How, no, when did you get here?”

“Is it important when I arrived? And don’t you remember? You lost consciousness as soon as you saw me. I brought you back and laid you down, but you woke up while I was thinking about whether I should even bring a physician because you couldn’t calm myself down.”

“Ah.”

Rayan let out a stupid sound.

Alle sat on the bed and looked at Rayan. Rayan turned his gaze aside to avoid Alle’s stern gaze on him.

“Look straight into my eyes, Rayan.”

“… ”

“Rayan.”

“Mhm.”

Alle didn’t seem to want to let it slide. Rayan looked at him with a groaning sound. Even though he lowered his eyes, Alle’s expression showed no sign of loosening.

“Why the hell were you there?”

“Aren’t you going to answer me?”

“That…”

“I came so late that I thought of greeting you tomorrow, but I came just in case, but you know how surprised I was when I came and didn’t find you?”

Alle’s nagging started pouring in, starting with the words “Do you know how surprised I was?”

“I was looking for you, but I couldn’t find you, so I had to go outside, but suddenly a rescue request came in. I went there just in case, and Rayan was there! What’s the scar on your back? Aren’t you going to tell me?”

It was the first time Alle had been so angry. Rayan was sullen. He didn’t resist him. Anyway, he was right, and it’s true that he had been worried about him.

“About my back, a shark….”

“Shark? Shark?”

Alle pulled his body forward and he looked again at his back. There was a stinging sensation, but Rayan thought it wasn’t a big deal, but Alle had a serious expression on his face.

He even cursed in a gloomy voice saying, “Who dares to touch?” It was different from when he was displeased with Yuri. It was hearsay that the killer whale clan had such a temper, but it was strange to see Alle acting so fiercely after always seeing their calm and neat appearance.

Rayan looked startled, and Alle took a long, deep breath. Looking back, the deep worries and anger disappeared again, and he returned to the original strict Alle. This was more terrifying.

“Since did you start going out?”

“It’s been a while-”

“So, how many times?”

Rayan wiggled his hand, looked at him, and answered cautiously.

“… Ten times.”

Alle sighed. He put his head in his hands and closed his eyes. Rayan felt a little bad and didn’t know what to do. He felt even more sorry, knowing that he didn’t regret it.

“What did you go out to see?”

“Hm?”

“No matter how crazy Yuri may be, she won’t just let Rayan go out alone. This dangerous outing must have been made without Yuri’s knowledge, but there’s no way you’d go out alone to just look at the outside world. So many times, on top of that.”

Alle’s reasoning was quite sharp and reasonable. Rayan did not readily answer and hesitated.

“Rayan.”

“…”

“Do you want me to go to Mer and ask that you be permanently banned from leaving Atisa?”

“No, no.”

That won’t do at all. It wasn’t that he was afraid of Mer’s disappointment in him or her punishment. If it was before he met Erich, who knows, but now he couldn’t imagine not being able to see Erich.

But no matter how much Rayan wracked his head, nothing came to mind. He was not even good at lying, and if he tried, Alle would notice in no time. And even if he was good at lying, he didn’t want to lie as much to Alle, who always cared for him.

“A human… I met a human.”

In the end, Rayan had no choice but to explain with his eyes tightly closed. When recounting from the first meeting with Erich to the present situation, Alle never interrupted him for a moment. Even when Rayan sometimes paused and took a deep breath.

The explanation, which continued for a long time, ended only when his mouth became dry.

Rayan glanced at Alle’s eyes. He didn’t forget to hold his hand for fear that he would run to Mer right away. Alle closed his eyes and tried to control his emotions for a long time. He seemed angry, but also shocked by this situation.

“It’s my fault for taking you outside. All of it.”

Alle, who was silent, wiped his face and muttered.

“Alle.”

“No matter how curious you became after hearing that story from Yuri, if I hadn’t comforted you and took you out, this wouldn’t have happened.”

“Alle. That’s not it.”

“Then, no matter how late it is, I must correct my mistake now.”

Don’t think about going out in the future. Rayan moved slightly, trying to comfort Alle who was in self-reproach but no words came out of his mouth. Alle got up, gently shaking Rayan’s hand that was holding the hem of his robe.

“You must have been surprised today, but take a rest.”

He jumped through the window and went out.

Rayan reached out to grab Alle, but frowned at the bitter pain that spread from his back.