3rd Wave - Unsettling Waters [1]

I can’t believe I made it…

Okihiro was doubling over the boat’s bow. On a spiritual level, his exhausted soul was almost levitating from his body for a long and well-deserved vacation. Physically, the young man felt sore after days of a very insane workload.

After a storm, a cargo ship barely reached the bay area before it sank to the ocean’s floor. And being at the main port of the city, Okihiro and the rest of his colleagues really gave their all trying to recover all the cargo before it got completely lost.

Since Kojin Okihiro was not an officially registered worker of the port, he was only called whenever they were short on people—which was a lot more often than his boss made it seem, when they first talked. In exchange, they gave Okihiro a small room where he could sleep and free meals whenever he worked.

In his eyes, it was a perfect arrangement; it gave him a lot of time to sail and go fishing. And, although Okihiro himself thought it was best to avoid sailing for a bit, nowhere in his wildest dreams he imagined he would stay away for so long. A week was something he found manageable.

Seventeen days were the closest he had ever got to a death sentence.

The boss even took pity on him for the first time in years and gave him some money as a reward for all the hard work, since the boy looked like death. Okihiro had no idea what he should do with that. In the end, he bought a new fishing rod.

As seawater splashed over his face, he felt his strength returning to him bit by bit. And only when all his eyes could see was the vast, blue ocean and all he could smell was the salty and rich scent of the sea did Okihiro let out a deep sigh and feel at peace.

At last…silence.

A quietude he could find nowhere else.

Okirin nudged him to get his attention. Okihiro patted the dog a few times, watching as Okirin wagged his tail nonstop with pure glee and joy before climbing on Okihiro to lick his face.

For the following hours, after lowering the sails, Okihiro sat in his chair and waited. Sometimes the fish would escape, others they would barely put up a fight. And as time passed, the metal bucket got heavier and heavier.

Today’s been quite good, so far…

At some point, Okihiro started returning some fish he caught. If he went back with so many, he wouldn’t have a reason to return so many times in the same week. After all, the boat was not his—the owner only let him borrow it for fishing, since he gave them more than half of his catches.

It was almost evening when Okirin started behaving strangely. First, the dog started to pace around the boat, going from one side to the other, as if searching for something. Then the animal stood on his paws and leaned against the edge, barking at the water.

From time to time, Okirin would warn Okihiro of any sharks or other creatures swimming in their surroundings. So that much wasn’t something strange for him. What was strange, however, was the fact that Okirin looked happy.

Okihiro glanced toward the place his dog was staring at, seeing nothing. He rested his back against the chair again, frowning.

Maybe he’s hungry?

Okihiro went to the cabin to grab the dog’s lunch, yet by the time he went back, Okirin was no longer alone.

There was a mermaid tilting the boat, getting closer and closer to his dog. Without even thinking, Okihiro dropped everything he was holding and rushed to Okirin, pulling and hugging the dog from behind in a protective gesture.

Heart racing, holding his breath, the young man kept staring at the creature with terror-stricken eyes.

And then he recognized her. The same mermaid who assaulted him weeks before.

Going back to earlier that day…

Princess Eirin was growing quite desperate.

Ever since she elaborated a new plan, she had been searching for the sailor with the shiny necklace . For weeks. And it was as if the man had been forsaken by the sea.

She would awake before the sun was even up, and only ended her search once Risei was this close to calling her uncle. Eirin even resorted to asking fishes for help, since they usually swam closer to where the humans lived. Yet no matter how many times she described the boat and the human, no creature had seen him.

“Has been a shipwreck, quite recent. Ya know, maybe ur human was inside.”

Yohei, a tuna she met that day, did not help much.

“There, he’s dead. Case closed. Now, why don’t we return to the palace and soothe your uncle’s heart? By this point, your family must think you’ve been possessed by a spirit.”

Risei was correct.

Yet her new fear was something else. After searching and waiting for the sailor for so long, she was practically ready to give up. So much so that she tried to find something else. A new human with a new trinket for her to sing to. Yet even when the sailors happily gave her all the things she asked for, what she felt in the end was a sense of emptiness.

A hollow conquest, with no meaning or enjoyment.

So what if she could never find that man again? What if Eirin was fated to feel unsatisfied and empty no matter how many treasures she acquired?

What then?

Yet to her joy, around midday, she finally got great news. Some fish had spotted the boat. Yet if the human was not dead, then why did he take so long to return? Would she have to wait that long every time she had to try something else?

No, there’s no need to think like that. Today will be the last time I see that man, because I will succeed.

That necklace is already mine.

Princess Eirin rushed her way to the boat, relieved when she confirmed it was the same one. Some might think how keen the mermaid’s memory was for her to remember a boat—something she would see quite often—with so much detail.

But Eirin’s memory was not at all that great. It was just that there was a huge ugly octopus painted on the boat’s hull.

And the octopus was wearing a hat.

In a few swims around the boat, Eirin not only confirmed it was the same man as before, but that he was still wearing the necklace. With a malicious grin, the mermaid made her way to the boat. She didn’t bother with the furry beast this time, since she already had everything figured out.

Yet as she swam closer, Eirin was captivated by the beast. The dog was, after all, majestic in his own right. Even as a mixed breed, Okirin was incredibly handsome. With a black brindle coat, sharp ears, and furry tail, people would often stop Okihiro on the streets to pet him.

And as Okirin wagged his tail happily for Eirin, she too found herself tempted to touch the animal's fur. But then her hand was slapped away, and the dog pulled back.

Kojin Okihiro was staring straight at her.

Once again, Eirin was taken aback by the man’s face.

Even with the scar, the allure being evoked by his clear, green eyes made her heart race and her face flush, especially when he kept gazing at her so intensely. But yet again the princess confused those new emotions as excitement at finally reuniting with the shiny object, so she quickly dismissed it.

And as Princess Eirin thought to herself, Does he want to keep the furry beast dry so much?

Kojin Okihiro was thinking, Does she want to steal my dog?

However, Eirin didn’t have the luxury of petting furry beasts. She had a mission. A plan.

“Be prepared, human! You may have gotten away at first due to your deafness, yet if you ever thought this pathetic excuse would keep me at bay, you were wrong.”

Okihiro blinked a few times. Both confused and terrified.

What is she saying? Is she mad about the fish again?

With one strong swing of her tail, Eirin pulled herself into the boat and charged toward the man once again. Thinking she was aiming at his dog, Okihiro pushed the animal to the side and braced himself for whatever attack the mermaid had prepared.

Eirin, by mistake, cornered Okihiro against the boat with one arm, pulling in the very next second something with her right hand.

A crystal tied together with rope.

Then she started to swing it, one side to the other, while speaking in a very monotonous and blank voice.

“Look at the pretty crystal... Look at the pretty crystal and give me your shiny thingy... Give it to me... Now.”

Hypnotism.

A trick Eirin had discovered in ancient records, many with very faulty documentation. Something she had no full understanding of, yet was only aware of how it was one of the closest things humans had to ‘magic’.

Okihiro was very confused.

So much so, he didn’t even know how to react. He could see the mermaid’s lips moving, feel the water dripping and falling into his face and clothes, and smell the seawater, accompanied by an oddly sweet scent.

The young man had no clue the crystal was Princess Eirin’s attempt at hypnotism—and at this point, no one could blame him. Yet as seconds turned into a minute, with both the princess and the man gazing deeply at each other’s eyes with nothing else happening, Eirin started to blush.

Until she was so flustered she could hardly speak, her face redder than the setting sun.

In a fit of shame and frustration, the mermaid threw the crystal away and retreated to the water. Yet not before turning back at Okihiro and mumbling many incomprehensible words—even to merfolk alike—about how she was merely testing him, and that the real thing was yet to come.

Are all…mermaids odd like this…?

They were not.

And for the second time in his life, Okihiro found himself frozen on the wooden floor with his clothes all wet, staring blankly at the ocean.

Without knowing what the heck had just happened.