16th Wave - A Shell's Brittleness, A Heart's Yearning [3]

It didn’t make sense.

“Hah…to think I would have this much work. I’m too old for this, you know?”

“Stop complaining and just be over with this, old hag.”

“My, my, Rii-chan, you are not cute at all. Can’t you go back to being a kid?”

She couldn’t understand. Not even one bit.

Everything was a blur.

At some point, she found Risei—or he found her. Then, at some point, they were at the Sea Witch’s lair. Yet Eirin couldn’t keep up with anything that was going on. She couldn’t even keep track of her own thoughts.

Everything was a blank void.

“But hah…seriously, though, things could have gone a lot worse than this. I can’t even say if she has a death wish or just got lucky.”

The squid ignored her.

“…is that a new crystal screen?”

“Let us get this done with so you two can leave me alone.”

Princess Eirin was only somewhat aware of what was happening around her. Of the changing lights and eerie glows as the Witch chanted. Of the pull and ache in her chest worsening, intensifying. Then, there was light.

The immeasurable relief once her song finally came back to her. The moment Princess Eirin became whole again—her full self again.

Still, it didn’t make sense.

“Done. Now scram.”

“Are you blind? She still has legs.”

“She will transform back tomorrow. Now don’t go bothering me again—I am busy [she wasn’t].”

“What if she doesn’t transform—”

“Extremely, insanely busy [again, she was not]. Hurry, hurry now.”

The Witch’s catsharks pushed them out, the door closing in their face not even a second later. 

And as Risei cursed and mumbled before sparing a glance at Eirin.

“How are you feeling? It’s better, right?”

She met the squid’s eyes, still unable to say a word. Still unable to look at the thing she held in her hand so tightly.

I don’t know…

Eirin had her song back. She had the sailor’s trinket.

Then why weren’t things better? Why did they feel worse?

Why did it feel like she could barely breathe? Why did her body feel so heavy?

Why did her chest hurt so much? Even more than before.

Why, after achieving everything she wanted—

Nothing felt right?

                                                                  𓇼 ⋆.˚ 𓆉 𓆝 𓆡⋆.˚ 𓇼

Time passed.

Through its indifference and justness, hours became days, which soon became weeks.

At the Palace of Corals, many were too busy to notice, while some were simply too apathetic to care. The ones trying to race against time were occupied with the Queen’s arrival, merfolk swimming from one side to the other.

Princess Kei had been ordering servants around since dawn, making sure everything would be spotless once her mother arrived the next day.

King Taon had done everyone a favor and isolated himself in the Corals Garden, as he was too enthusiastic to help and too emotional to pretend otherwise. However, the merman was quite surprised when he realized there was someone already there.

“Oh? I was not expecting to find you here!”

The mermaid did not turn around. Instead, her vacant eyes continuing to gaze into the distance.

Taon could only guess why his niece had been so depressed for the past days. He was almost certain it had something to do with her engagement with the Prince of Cobalts. The king sat beside her, taking a deep breath.

“Today is a lovely day, wouldn’t you say so?”

Princess Eirin said nothing. King Taon became more uncertain about what he could say to lift his niece’s spirits—

“F-from what I heard, you finally abandoned that hobby of yours! Did you finally grow tired of humans?”

And chose absolutely the worst thing he could’ve mentioned.

As he saw the princess’ expression worsen, as if Death had gotten hold of her, King Taon became even more restless.

“I-I mean, not that there was ever a problem with it in the first place—I know how much you pride yourself on your collection!”

At one time, she truly did.

All those human trinkets—her conquests. Each one had a story, no matter how brief. Yet every time she visited her cave after getting her song back, no matter how much she looked at all her treasures…Eirin felt empty.

Her treasures, meaningless.

She then realized something—by staring at all those trinkets. She recalled how she had achieved each one; whether it had been on a sunny or rainy day, whether she claimed it due to its shine or its odd format. Yet she could never recall the faces.

The people to whom these treasures had once belonged.

Because the sailors had never been important to her. The conquest, her game, had never been about them. It was always about her collection—about getting one more treasure for her to admire. A way for her to pass time and ignore everything that awaited her back home.

Yet all those “treasures”, all those conquests…they didn’t make her feel proud. They made her feel empty. And the golden pendant she had worked so hard to get due to its beautiful glow had never looked so lifeless, bringing her nothing but ache.

However, the necklace around her neck…

That one only brought her tears.

“…uncle…do you regret it?”

“Hm?”

Eirin’s voice was a distant echo lost amidst the corals. A sorrowful melody aching to find a source of light.

“Marring Auntie…do you regret it? If you knew she would stay away as much as she does, would you still choose this? When it brings you this much pain.”

King Taon widened his eyes, surprised by her question. But his gaze soon softened, matching the warmth and fondness in his voice.

“You see, Eirin, love is a strange thing. Even when I knew exactly how difficult it would be, I would never choose a different life. Because I love my queen too much to wish for anything else.”

Eirin couldn’t understand.

It didn’t make sense.

How could anyone commit to something that would eventually bring them misery? Imprison them in an unending cycle of suffering.

Taon glanced at his niece, uncertain once again of what he could say.

“…I’m certain your mother doesn’t regret it, either.”

And chose the right thing.

Eirin finally turned to her uncle, holding her breath with trembling lips.

“Why do you say that?”

The older merman closed his eyes, a gentle smile touching his face.

“I won’t claim I know my sister’s heart, yet I know her. She is not one to ever regret the choices she made. Because everything she chose, she did so after careful consideration. Regretting her choice would be admitting she made a mistake, and if there is one thing I’m certain of, it's that she will never say choosing the King of Pearls was a mistake.”

She clenched her fists, her eyes burning.

And before she could even stop herself, the Princess of Corals asked her uncle a question.

“How can you be certain? That a love that brings you pain won’t be a mistake.”

It took a long time for the King of Corals to give her his answer. And soon after he did, King Taon found himself alone.

Because Eirin had a place to be.

                                                                        𓇼 ⋆.˚ 𓆉 𓆝 𓆡⋆.˚ 𓇼

“You see, my dear niece, every love will bring you pain.”

Never once in her entire life did Eirin swim with so much desperation.

“Because when you truly love someone, you give them your entire heart.”

Never once—throughout all the years she lived in that sea—did she think there was too much water to be crossed.

“A heart that will cry when you are apart, that will ache when they are not smiling, that will bleed when they make something you disagree with.”

And even as she swam with that much desperation, enough to make her tail throb and her muscles hurt, Eirin felt she would die the moment she stopped swimming.

Because she had to get there.

“And having someone have a grip over your heart can be terrifying. Because it feels like your life doesn’t belong to you anymore.”

She had to confirm something with her own eyes.

With her own heart.

“Yet even when it’s scary and painful, even when your heart stops being only your own, if you give it to the right person, it will never feel like a mistake.”

She had to see those eyes and hear that laugh one more time.

She had to see that smile.

All the things that wouldn’t leave her thoughts.

“Because they will also give their heart to you. And to possess someone’s heart—a heart you poured all your love into, and one that poured all its love into yours—is the greatest honor one could have in their entire life. It becomes your most precious treasure.”

Eirin kept doubting herself the closer she got. What if he had sailed in a different boat, or chosen a different place?

And even if he was there, would he be at work or Tomi Seina’s house?

“That’s how you know love was not a mistake. Because even its pain becomes something precious—a proof you held someone’s heart in your own hands and took good care of it.”

As Princess Eirin thought about which way she should go, the pendant in her neck became heavier. Hotter. So instead of thinking about the right place, she let her memories decide for her.

Memories of Okihiro laughing and smiling at her.

Memories of her laughing and smiling at him.

Memories her heart remembered with warmth and fondness, even as it ached.

Those memories brought her to a beach. A beach that was almost always deserted, a beach that had a great spot to watch the sea and the sunrise. And when she surfaced and gazed at the rocks, she saw a man sitting on the rocks.

He was hugging his knees and had his head down. Yet somehow, Eirin could tell. Even when she didn’t remember the faces of any of the sailors she had charmed before, she knew with a single glance.

Because the pain in her chest became even stronger, and before her heart started racing, it stopped and throbbed.

She touched the metal pendant hanging from her neck, tears running down her face.

Eirin swam closer.

“Okihiro…”

She knew he couldn’t hear her, so what escaped her lips was but a mere whisper. Longing, yearning, aching.

However, for some reason, Kojin Okihiro felt an itch in his scar. A pull. One coming from those waters, almost like a command. Something that compelled him to raise his gaze.

As their eyes met, both lost their breath. Without moving. Without blinking.

“…Eirin.”

And the moment she gazed into those green eyes, the moment she heard that beautiful sound again, she was able to confirm.

How her heart was not only hers anymore.

Princess Eirin bit her lip, raising the shiny necklace toward the sailor.

Okihiro blinked a few times before signing.

「Did you come to bring this back?」

There was fear in his eyes. A distant sadness circling his heart.

Eirin shook her head.

“No.”

Okihiro frowned, confused.

「This is mine now. You gave it to me.」

He was not expecting that. Not at all. Yet before he could say or do anything else, the mermaid did the one thing she did best. The one thing Kojin Okihiro should always expect and could never understand. 

Something unexpected.

“If you want this back, you need to give me something.”

He read both her lips and her signs. And at the same time he understood what she meant, he didn’t .

「What do you need?」

When Princess Eirin gave her reply, Okihiro’s heart raced and his face flushed.

For her smile was brighter than any star, and warmer than the sun itself.

「A very precious treasure.」

On that day, in a quiet moment guarded only by the rising tide and the setting sun, Princess Eirin of the Palace of Pearls took on a new mission. A new objective.

One to steal a sailor’s heart.

  𓆝 𓆟 𓆞 𓆝 𓆟 𓆝 𓆟 𓆞 𓆝 𓆟 𓆝 𓆟 𓆞 𓆝 𓆟 𓆝 𓆟 𓆞 𓆝 𓆟 𓆝 𓆟 𓆞 𓆝 𓆟 𓆝 𓆟 𓆞 𓆝 𓆟 𓆝 𓆟 𓆞 𓆝 𓆟 𓆝 𓆟 𓆞 𓆝 𓆟

                                ˖°𓇼🌊⋆🐚 NEXT CHAPTER: LAST WAVE ˖°𓇼🌊⋆🐚