Beneath the Painted Ocean

by CS Patra

  “You...” Kai coughed out, lying on the ground. “Are you...”

  “What the...” Callum carefully scooped Kai into his arms and tried to find the bullet hole. “Oh, tell me you didn’t just do that! I told you to stay in the water!”

  “I couldn’t...he would have hurt you...”

  “I could have handled it! If I got hurt, someone would take care of me. I don’t...” Callum tried to take a deep breath and not think about what happened. He could feel so many pairs of eyes on him. They all had a million questions but he couldn’t answer them. He had to save Kai. “What do I do? Where do I go?”

  “Don’t worry. Saving you was all I wanted to do,” Kai murmured. “I’ve thought about that since I first saw you. I’ve been thinking...all this time...”

  “All this time?”

  “I lied,” Kai whispered. “I knew you from that night. Your eyes...I can’t forget...”

  Callum looked down at everything gushing out of Kai right now. Somehow, Kai had sensed he was in danger and came around in time to stop the bullet. He was shaking as he looked down at the merman’s deep brown eyes and it hit him. Kai was right that they had met before. This was his angel. This was the second time his angel managed to save his life.

  “Heh, it took you long enough,” Kai let out a chuckle. “I’m surprised. I thought you knew, but I guess you didn’t…you couldn’t believe…”

  “It was you all along.” He realized. “Kai, why would you do that? I tried to get you to safety!”

  Kai’s eyelids fluttered. He reached up and touched Callum’s cheek. “It’s okay, love. I couldn’t let them take you...”

  “But you...” Callum grabbed Kai’s hand and squeezed it. “I’ll save you! I don’t know how, but there’s got to be a way! You can’t go! Not like this! Not after I found you.” He closed his eyes and tried not to cry. “How could do you that?”

  “Everyone does strange things when they love someone,” Kai whispered, kissing Callum’s knuckles. “You were in danger. You deserve to live.”

  “So do you.” Callum tried to figure out a way to stop the bleeding. “This is my fault! I...I should never have...”

  “No, maybe this is what was meant to be,” Kai assured him, still clinging to life. “You belong on land and I belong to the sea. It was foolish to think we could be together.”

  “We are together.” Callum reminded him. He was still trying to figure out how he could keep Kai alive. He didn’t know how to save a merman. “You were the one who saved me. I should save you.”

  “At least you know the truth. I’m glad to see you again.” Kai kissed Callum’s hand once more before closing his eyes and letting himself fall into the darkness. He was completely in love with this human and that was good enough. The last thing he wanted to feel was Callum’s warm skin against his cold, dying one.

  Callum still held on but he couldn’t tell if Kai was alive. Gently, he nudged him. “Kai?” Kai lay completely still, eyes closed, and wound oozing out something green. “Kai! Kai, wake up! Please wake up!”

  When Kai didn’t move, he tried to find some sign of life. He leaned against Kai’s chest in hopes of hearing a heartbeat or something. He tried to hear him breathing. “No no no, this can’t be happening! You can’t do this to me! You can’t die on me!” He felt the tears coming back as he frantically tried to come up with a way to save Kai. “Please don’t die! I...I can’t lose you. Don’t leave me.”

  He held onto Kai’s body and tried to stop the tears but they were falling. It didn’t feel fair at all. He had found someone to hold onto only for them to slip away. He had already lost his sister. He didn’t want to lose Kai either. The world couldn’t be dealing him another loss. He buried his head into Kai’s chest, not wanting to see anyone.

  “Don’t leave me.” He repeated, keeping his voice low so no one else heard. He couldn’t show his face. Instead, he leaned over and kissed Kai’s cold lips. “Don’t go away. You’re my angel. I love you.”

  He caught sight of his watch and saw that the minute moved, marking it as midnight. The new day was here but Kai was gone. There was no point in looking forward to anything now. He clung to Kai’s lifeless body and kept sobbing, not caring if it made him look weak to others. He didn’t care if anyone was watching. He didn’t want to talk to anyone or do anything. If Kai had to become sea foam now, then he would join him in the sea.

  That was when he felt the warm glow around them. It was so hot that he dropped Kai’s body and backed away. Something was happening and he could see that the tail was glowing. He wanted to do something, but had no idea what to do. Instead, he just stared at the glow and watched in awe as the tail turned into legs. He put his hands to his mouth, taking everything in. His tears were drying up from the heat but the glow soon stopped. Kai’s wound was healed and in place of his scales and tail were legs.

  Callum wanted to approach him but Kai suddenly woke up and sat on the sand, rubbing his head. He had no idea what had happened until he saw his knees. Then he saw his shins, ankles, and finally his toes. He wiggled them and buried them in the sand. He gasped when he realized what had happened and turned to Callum. He stared at where the wound would have been and saw that it had been healed. Callum had done it. He had declared his love right before midnight.

  “Callum! Look!” He held up one of his feet and waved it in the air. “I’m human!”

  Callum blinked and slowly made his way over to him. “You...You’re alive? You have legs?! How?!”

  “I wished for this! I wanted this!” Kai tried to stand up but promptly fell back on the sand. “Okay, I need to learn how to use legs but I have them! Do you know what that means?! We can be together!”

  “You wanted to be human?”

  “The sea witch...I made a deal,” Kai explained. “She turned me into a human because it’s what I wanted more than anything. It was because of you. I found everything in you.” He held out his hand. “I’m here. I’m always going to be here.”

  “I’m...I’m in shock. You’re alive and a human,” Callum said, slowly understanding what went down. “You’re alive and a human!” He made his way to Kai and wrapped his jacket around his waist. “Let’s try to get you covered up though.”

  “Is it wrong to walk around like this?”

  “In human society, most people don’t walk around naked like this.” Callum laughed and started crying again. This time, these were tears of joy. Kai couldn’t seem to understand that and looked sad.

  “Oh no, what happened?! You’re crying. I made you sad!”

  “No, you made me happy! These are happy tears!” Callum laughed, wiping his eyes. “I don’t know what really went down but you’re here! That’s all I really wanted! That means we can go anywhere we wanted, do everything we wanted! I can take you to Italy!” Then reality sunk in. “How do I explain this to other people?”

  “We’ll cross that ocean when we get there,” Kai said, putting a finger to Callum’s lips. “For now, I just want you to enjoy the moment.”

  Ten months later...

  The marriage was a simple one in the only place that seemed fitting; right in front of the beach. Merfolk and people were both invited to it. Kai could now speak both, English and his own language, and being a former merman meant he could hold his breath forever underwater. The majority of people had no idea that he was a merman. The secret was kept safe between the family and things were moving smoothly. Not long after, Kai learned about humans and how to live like one, the two of them decided to live together. They had also gotten a black Lab named Ariel and not long after that, they thought it was best to get married. Kai accepted the ring with delight and now their wedding day was here.

  Life was still tough for Callum, but he was learning to balance it. The wedding plans had stressed him out but the day was finally here. Things went without a hitch and now the two of them were bound in holy matrimony. Knoll had been caught and was convicted of attempted murder. As far everyone knew, that was it for him. They w
ould never have to hear about him again.

  Jacob Caldwell was the first to congratulate Callum and Kai on their marriage. He had apologized a countless number of times for what had happened that night. He was relieved to see both were alive and healthy. The first thing he did when he got sight of Callum in his suit was pull him into a hug.

  “I would never have guessed that my boy would be marrying a merman but here we are.” His father said. “Still, this is happiest I have ever seen you. Are you still taking your meds?”

  “I still have my days, Dad,” Callum admitted. “They’re easier to deal with though. I have someone to guide me out of darkness.” Then he lowered his gaze. “Dad, I know we haven’t always gotten along but I hope you forgive me for what I’ve said and done in the past. I haven’t been a good son.”

  “No, you’re not a good son. You’re a great son and I am glad that you are mine.” His father pulled him into a hug. “I should be apologizing to you. I wish you had told me about this sooner but I can understand why you kept it a secret. As long as you have someone to love you and take care of you, I know you’ll be all right.”

  Now that the wedding was over and most of the guests had gone, Callum was sitting on a chair at the back of the house listening to the waves. It felt so good to be in a familiar place. Some days were still tough but he was getting through each one. The ocean was getting cleaned up and people were aware of what they were doing. Work was moving along. Things were fine.

  Kai came over and sat down next to him with Ariel. The dog was adorable and hyper, already in love with her new owners. She licked Callum’s face while he gave her a hug. Kai handed him a bottle of his medication and some water since it was time to take it again. “Are you doing all right, love?”

  “I’m fine,” Callum nodded, taking his medicine. He was grateful that he had them. “A little overwhelmed but that’s normal. Once everyone leaves, I’d like to head down to the beach and sit on the sand for a while. Listen to the ocean waves rolling in and out. I think that’ll be nice.”

  “Yeah, that would be. Just one night here before I meet you in Italy.”

  “Are you sure you can swim with legs to Italy? You’re not a merman anymore.”

  “I’m a merman at heart. I can still swim better than I can walk. I will make it there before you do,” he winked. “Still, if you don’t want humans to be suspicious, I’ll follow you on that…what is it called? Plane? I’ve never see the sky from such a height before. It will be new.”

  “I think you’ll enjoy it. For now, let’s sit here and enjoy the sight.” He felt the grass between his toes and thought about how far they had come. “To think, you saved me from myself. Then you saved me again. I need to save you now.”

  “You already have. You made me what I’ve always want to be. You gave me everything I ever wanted. It doesn’t get better than that,” Kai whispered. “And now we get live happily ever after.”

  Callum nodded, taking Kai’s arm and squeezing it. As he stared at the ocean ahead, he thought about what they would do next. They weren’t at happily ever after yet but they would get there.

  Slowly but surely, they would get there.