Original Stories Fan Fiction ❯ To Wish Upon The Sea ❯ The Kind Man ( Chapter 10 )

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To Wish Upon the Sea

By: Melissa Norvell

Chapter 10: The Kind Man

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Awiti glanced around as she saw the massive amount of land and buildings that surrounded a magnificent castle. As they surfaced, the one-eyed naga placed her hands on the edge of the dry land, her expression turned to one of awe as she laid sights on the massive pearlized castle that stuck high above the land.

"Wow, you live here?" She asked. Awiti could never imagine living in a place that was grandeur.

"Yes, it's in a secret spot. Our castle is above the water in a secret cave. No one can get in because the cave has been blocked off for years," Thelios was trying to ensure the female naga's safety. He didn't want her to feel afraid that some humans might come and hunt her. To him, at least, the castle was the most hidden place in the kingdom. Very few naga have even been there.

"So you can come up from an underground lake. That's a pretty good idea. Our castle used to be above the land but the humans drove us into the water, just like the rest of the naga. I remember what my father had said," Awiti spoke as she recalled that fateful day all too clearly.

Euphrates looked down with a sad expression. His frown was deep-set and his lone blue eye reflected the immense sorrow in his heart.

"What's wrong?" Awiti asked with a concerned expression on her face. She wanted to know what made her father cast such a sorrowful expression.

"I foresee a great turn of events. The Naga will soon not be able to live on land as they used to. They will be driven into the sea by the humans," Euphrates replied in a low, soft voice.

"Why? What will happen to make us go into the sea?" The small naga didn't understand her father's words but she would come to in time.

"We'll become prey."

As her visions of the past soon faded away to reality, the blue naga female could see another naga glancing at her from the edge of the land. Her face was heart shaped and her eyes were large and curious. Her hair was in a pixie cut and she had a single, short, black horn protruding from the middle of her forehead. The yellow crop top with the tie around her neck signified her identity to Thelios.

It was Lorka.

"Who are you?" The curious naga asked as she examined the delicate features of Awiti closely.

"Who are you?" Awiti asked in turn. She was the one who was new to her land, so it was only proper that Lorka be the one to introduce herself first.

"Hey Lorka, this is my friend Awiti," Thelios decided to do the introducing to save the girls from fighting. "Awiti, this is my best friend Lorka," the male replied as he smiled kindly at the two. He really wanted them to become friends so that the three of them could all hang out together. Lorka told the dark blue naga that it was nice to meet her, and leveled her with her prettiest smile.

Awiti slithered on shore and told her that it was also nice to make her acquaintance.

"We have to go in the castle. We need to talk to my mom and dad about something." Thelios informed.

"I thought that we were going to the surface today," Lorka had nearly promised her that he would take her on a journey to the surface. Lorka had planned a lot of fun things between just the two of them and she was a little upset that he seemed to have other plans.

"I can't. This is important," the answer came all too soon and it wasn't to her liking.

"But-" Lorka tried to protest, but her words escaped far too late before the two naga had passed her and headed towards the castle entrance. Half-way to the castle, Thelios stopped and looked over his shoulder at his dissapointed friend. His eyes were sympathetic but other than that, the rest of his face remained stoic.

"Sorry, some other time."

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"So, you're finally going to take me out," Andromeda seemed all too happy with the prince's decision. "I'm glad that you decided to try and settle down." The long-haired female clasped her hands together in delight. The fact that Thanatos was even giving her the time of day made her hopeful that he would at least consider being in her company.

"Look, I already told you that I'm not doing this for you. I'm not doing it because I like you or-" She didn't need him to say any more. Andromeda grasped both of his hands in her down and gazed into his green eyes with a look of gentility and kindness. He didn't have to deny his kindness for her. It didn't matter if it was spoken or not, the only thing that mattered was that they had an understanding and not all understandings were spoken.

"Thanatos, my dear prince, I really want to make this work. I wish you would tell me how to make myself more attractive in your eyes. Am I not beautiful?" He would admit something to her by the time that their time together was over and it really didn't matter what it was, as long as she heard something hopeful.

"Don't be superficial. I don't think you're ugly or anything," Thanatos shrugged her off by only answering the question half-way, as usual.

"Then what's wrong? If we don't talk then we can never know how we feel," Andromeda tried to explain, though she kind of thought that she may have been going nowhere with this conversation. "We can't communicate and then we can't even be friends."

"What do you care about that?" The prince glared into the snow-white naga's pale blue eyes. He had a feeling that she was no different from any of his other suitors and he wanted nothing to do with women who were so superficial as to think that he would have an interest in them simply because they were beautiful and alluring.

"I've been thinking about a lot of things," she explained, "I was moving really fast and I was blind. I thought that because you were a prince that I could try and make you love me simply because I was high-class. I realize that love takes time but I've been in love with you for such a long time and...I had always wanted to be with you." The last part of her sentence was low and seemed to trail off into whisper.

"What do you want from me?" Thanatos asked rigidly. He didn't really care about Andromeda's needs but he didn't want to show no interest and make things worse between them.

"Let's start over," the female smiled kindly. "I want to try and at least be friends."

"Fine, I'll go on a date with you if it will make you feel better," the black-haired naga couldn't believe what he was saying, but the longer she was around him, the more conspicuous it would be if he snuck off. If he spent some time with her, maybe she'd go away so he could get back to Manami.

"I'm grateful!" Andromeda seemed as if she could hardly contain herself. "Let's do something that you would like to do."

'I have no choice but to deal with this until I can get back to Manami. I'll humor her for now. If I do what she wants, then maybe I can get a break enough to see Manami again.'

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Manami had just finished hanging her clothes on the line to dry. She had managed to do a lot since she had last seen Thanatos. The girl learned how to make her own clothes and had sowed a few dresses while she waited for his return. Manami knew that he was a creature of the sea and that his true home lay beneath the depths of the water, due to the cruel humans who hunted them. Perhaps, if there were more humans like her then he would not feel as if he was threatened so much.

Maybe one day, humans and naga could live together in peace.

"It's been a long time since I've seen Thanatos-sama. I hope that he's okay," Manami threaded a piece of purple fabric in her hands. "I think when he comes back; I'll fix some of that fish that he likes. Maybe I should go and catch some by the shoreline." The girl replied as she looked to her window. The skies were blue and the sun shone brightly. It had been a beautiful day to go out and see the shoreline.

The girl arose from her sowing and began to get ready to go outside. She put on a long-sleeved, dark purple dress with a frilly white apron and white collar. Manami then brushed her hair and placed a large, dark purple bow in the back. Her baggy, rolled down socks and black Mary Janes added a touch of innocence to her drab dress and hair accessory. Manami stared at herself in the mirror for a while and took in the look she had been going for. When she was satisfied with a few minor adjustments she smiled at herself.

"I hope that Thanatos-sama will like these new clothes that I made. I'll be able to not feel bad when I'm around him. He is a prince after all. I feel so happy just being at his side," the girl found herself walking along a sandy path down towards the beach. The wind was gentle as it flowed through her ebony hair and played with the silken strands.

Her illuminated eyes glanced around at her surroundings as she thought to herself.

'I've been given such wonderful things by the sea. It gave me food, friends like Marjani and even clothes. It gave me everything I love.' Manami thought as she looked out towards the sea, then sighed. "Thanatos-sama, I hope the sea returns you to me one day."

As her glance fell from the sea to the beach, she found herself setting sights on a lone figure that was a bit off shore. It appeared to be a man dressed in a large, green, long-sleeved baggy shirt with blue jeans. He was sitting on a towel with his knees up and a fishing pole stuck up out of the ground beside of him. His hair was long, straight and blue and he had the most pristine blue eyes that she had ever seen. Even from a distance, they dazzled like aquamarine against the sunlight.

"Huh?" The word escaped the girl's lips as she gazed at the mysterious man.

'This is the life. I can just sit back and smell the salty air!' The blue-haired man thought to himself before he heard something move nearby. He glanced over to see a girl in a long, poofy dress, holding a wicker basket with long, black hair. This girl was very strange. She stood still on the rocks as the salty air blew around her, causing her dress to lift slightly and her hair to dance behind her.

"Who is she? Does she live around here?" He wondered to himself as the girl bent down a top of one of the large, grey rocks that reached out into the sea. "Huh?" The fisherman wondered why the girl was kneeling on the rock and bent down, as if she was taking something out of the water.

Over where Manami was, Marjani had surfaced on the other side of the rock. The look on her face turned to one of stoicism as soon as she found out that she and Manami weren't alone.

"There is a human here," Marjani stated.

"He's not paying attention. Besides, I just want to ask you how Thanatos-sama has been," Manami knew that at least one of the nagas had been with him or affiliated with him. Marjani seemed like she was at least friendly towards him so asking her couldn't hurt. Manami just wanted to know that he was alright.

"I haven't seen him recently," Marjani replied. "He must be doing something for his parents." Usually Thanatos was doing something for the king and queen if he wasn't wandering around and trying to cause mischief.

"Can you tell him that I miss him and I hope that he's alright?"

"If I see him, I'll definitely tell him," the warrior naga replied.

"Thanks, you're a good friend," Manami smiled happily at her.

"How have you been?"

"I've been good. You see-" The black-haired girl started off, but the entire sentence couldn't reach her lips fast enough before the naga's head swiftly disappeared beneath the blue of the sea and a shadow fell over her. The girl swiftly turned around to see that the fisherman who had been sitting on the beach was now beside of her with a curious expression on his face.

Her heart raced momentarily as she wondered what all he had heard or seen.

"What are you doing?" The man asked curiously.

"Who are you?" The frightened girl asked, nearly gasping at how close he had been to her.

"My name is Amane Hiroyuki. I'm a fisherman and I was sitting by the shore when I saw you. You seemed lonely so I decided to accompany you. What's your name?" Hiroyuki asked.

The girl simply stated her first name.

"Do you have a last name, Manami?"

"I do but I don't want it so I abandoned it," Manami explained simply.

"What? How can you give up your last name?" It was indeed a bad thing to be disowned or to feel so much shame that you disown another.

"A last name ties you to someone, that's how you have a family. I don't love my family so I abandoned my last name. That way, I won't have any ties to them," Manami really didn't want to be hurt by them again, so she had no choice but the disown them. The girl didn't want to be beaten again, not when she was so happy now. She only longed to belong to the sea with Thanatos and the other naga.

'Strange girl...' The fisherman thought before he asked. "What were you doing?"

"I was looking at the fish in the water. I feed them here and sometimes, they come right up to you," the lie seemed all too natural from the girl's lips.

"Do you live nearby?" Hiroyuki asked.

Manami nodded. "Yes I do. Do you?"

"I come around. Why do you ask?"

"I live alone right now and you're the first person I've met. If you come here a lot then we can talk when we see each other. We can be like friends," the girl replied. It was getting lonely without the naga around. Usually her side of the beach was so abandoned. It was very far from the tourists and things that came to take a swim. She was happy that someone so kind wanted to talk to her and she wished to be friends with him.

"I'd like that. I don't have any friends," Hiroyuki wanted to get to know Manami more as well.

"Then we'll be friends," Manami decided and smiled at the blue-haired man, who returned it with one of his own.

"I've caught some fish. Would you like to take a couple of them home?" The long-haired man asked. It was the least he could do for such a kind girl.

"Yes, I'll share them with Thanatos-sama!"

"Who's Thanatos?" That was a very odd name for someone who was Japanese. Maybe they were a foreigner from another land.

"He's a friend. He's very nice and I like him a lot," the girl blushed slightly as she admitted a small amount of her true feelings to the fisherman.

"It sounds like you love him to me," Hiroyuki replied with a teasing smile.

"Really? You think that I love him?" Manami placed a finger to her lips in question and thought a little to herself. Every time she wondered about this subject, she seemed to only get more and more confused on the matter. She really didn't know how she felt but she did know that Thanatos wasn't like anyone else that she had met. The feelings that she got from him were unique and she felt drawn to his electric personality, even if she'd get shocked if she got too deeply indulged in the subject.

"It's just the expression on your face. He must be really special to you," Hiroyuki replied.

"Oh, he is!" Manami took no time in replying to the man's statement. That was something that she was definitely sure of. "He saved my life and he takes good care of me."

"He must be a good friend," Hiroyuki replied.

"Hey, Hiroyuki."

"Yes?"

"Let's meet at lunch tomorrow. I'll make a big lunch for the both of us," the girl replied. She was a very good cook and wanted to make a special lunch that the both of them could share.

"I'll definitely take you up on that!" After all, it was better than anything he could cook for himself. It had been a long time since Hiroyuki had anything that was home-cooked. Restaurant food and his own cooking was beginning to taste a little bland.

"Well, I have to get back home. I'll see you tomorrow," the girl placed the fish neatly in her basket and walked off towards the direction of her house. Manami seemed to glow with happiness. It was something that was so different then what she was used to.

Up until now, she had only known pain. She liked the feeling of joy and love that now surrounded her.

It seemed that she had finally gotten her life the way she wanted it to be.

Pain would be a thing of the past.

"I'm so happy!" She took off running and let out a giggle. 'Today, the sea had given me another gift, a friend named Hiroyuki. He's really nice, even though he almost caught me talking to Marjani. I have to remember to keep the naga a secret.

I hope Thanatos-sama will come back soon and see me. I miss him. I don't know if I love him or not but right now that doesn't matter. I just want to be with him. I hope that he's thinking of me, wherever he is.'

To Be Continued...