The sensation of falling wasnât foreign to Sorcha by any means. Sheâd gone cliff-diving before, had flown up to incredible heights before letting herself free-fall for the rush. But in all those scenarios, she had her wings. She had the wind under her control. She could regain control of her fall in an instant if she chose. This time, she had nothing to slow herself down as she gained momentum and the crashing waves rushed toward her. All she had was an instinct calling in her gut and the back of her mind, telling her with a certainty sheâd rarely felt that she would be alright. The waves were not her enemies, not today. Not now. They would envelop her like a soothing shroud, and sheâd save Aiden in no time. Nearly a hundred years of experience tried to fight this bizarre instinct, but it was useless as she stretched out her hands and slipped into the water with a splash.
Salt water swallowed her up and bubbles clouded her vision for a moment as she kicked hard, eyes peeled for a sign of her brother. Within seconds, however, panic surged through her. Her kicks had become pained; her legs seemingly refused to move the way she wanted them to. Sorcha twisted in the water, trying to get a look at her legs to see if sheâd hit a rock or gotten tangled on something. To her surprise, she watched as her legs forced themselves together, skin giving way to shimmering purple scales as the appendages fused together at the waist. Her shock was enough to block out the pain of her bones reshaping themselves, enough to make her forget to keep holding her breath. She gulped in a mouthful of water, a muffled cry forcing itself out, and the panic spiked again as she braced to start choking. Instead, the sea water passed through her lungs as easily as air, rendering her still and befuddled.
So⌠sheâd lost her wings and her powers, but become a mermaid? That was unexpected to say the least. But more helpful than she could describe in this moment. She might not how to work a fish tail, but she would have to figure it out fastâshe still had to find Aiden. Who knew if he was as lucky as sheâd been? The ex-fae twisted in the water again and gave her newly-emerged tail a massive flick. The force shot her down through the waves faster than sheâd expected, and despite her continued worry for Aiden, she couldnât suppress a grin. This was almost like flying, in a way: just as instinctive and as fast. She cut through the water like a bullet from a gun, adjusting her course with the same sort of minute adjustments to her body as she would make in the air, her tail and her arms combining in powerful strokes to send her deeper, faster.
A few seconds later, a dark shape appeared in the water before her. Dark, humanoid, and writhing with such severity that she could never mistake it for anyone but a drowning person. Sorcha flicked her tail again and closed the gap, arms wrapping around the figure tightly, patting at his face and shoulders, anything to get him to calm himself and not make it worse. Aidenâs eyes were blown wide in panic and defiance, and it was enough to make her want to cry for fear and joy combined. Without a word, Sorcha scooped him up, much as she often had when he was so much younger and smaller, and kicked out again, this time aiming upward. In the gathering darkness of the depths below the cliff, she had only instinct to guide her back to fresh air, but that instinct was as strong as the one that had told her not to fear the ocean today. She stared ahead through the gloom as light began filtering down toward them, praying she would be fast enough to get her brother the air he desperately needed.
Aiden wasnât drowning. There was still air in his lungs and his vision was still clear, for the most part. He didnât feel like he was drowning, but to be fair, Aiden had never been submerged underwater. He wasnât calm for sure, his hands still crawling through the water and his lungs wishing he could take a breath. Merfolk made swimming look easy, but Aiden never went below the surface, he never truly looked at anyone swimming because his life was above water, on the land or in the air. The more he tried to climb, wishing his powers were back or even at least his wings to get the extra strength to push him back up. For the first time, his excessiveness got the better of him and it was going to be his death.
Arms circled around his waist all of the sudden, and he was pulled up immediately, the water pressure wanting to keep him down but this person not letting it. Aiden saw the fire and confusion struck him before realizing it was hair, long messy strands that still curled under the water. They broke the surface and Aiden greedily took in all the air he could. He was still being held on and that was preventing him from flailing. Aiden didnât even realize he took on some water, coughing it all out of his lungs like it was a disease.
âSorcha?â He asked, incredulous as if that was all that mattered, not that he was almost drowning just a few moments. Before. The younger boy pulled away, only to fall back under the water. His eyes caught the shimmer, the long tail that his sister now donned before managing to get back up to the surface, barely figuring out how to wade. âFucking shit, really? The world has gone to shit.â
