Kai felt like he couldn’t breathe. This Luhan, his eyes were exactly like her eyes. The same, beautiful, golden eyes that seemed to have stolen his heart that night at sea. But the boy was not her. No, not his goddess, his rescuer. He soon found out after shaking the boy’s shoulder over and over again that Luhan couldn’t speak. So he sat there, just sat there staring at the boy after Sehun threw him to the ground and carried the boy off in an oversized towel.

Now, sitting in his study room, Kai couldn’t even believe he thought this “Luhan” to be his beautiful Siren. She had skin as soft as silk that shone like pearls while Luhan’s could only be comparable to the softest cotton. Her eyes glowed clear and mesmerizing like amber while his were darker, more of a light brown. He closed his eyes once more, remembering her touch, remembering her lips grazing his ears as she spoke in that beautiful siren voice. Luhan had no voice, and Kai found it disgusting that he even thought of comparing this child to his beautiful, perfect siren.

Yet no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t help but replace the perfect but blurred image of his savior with a clearer picture of the petite boy. There in his mind, was no longer his goddess, but the dirty washed up mute boy with his intense gaze. A gaze that seemed to never let Kai go.

Kai’s eyes snapped open, and he realized his cold body was covered in sweat. Shaking his head, he tried to get forget seeing Luhan’s face in his head and ran a hand through his tangled black hair.

“You’re royal highness,” he turned to see a servant standing besides the door, the clear loud voice snapping him out of his trance. “Would you be having lunch in the dining hall with Master Tao, your brother and his guest?”

While the last person Kai wanted to see was Luhan, something pulled for him towards the boy at the same time. Besides, he thought, I owe Sehun an apology for messing with his toy.

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Sehun didn’t know what was wrong with Jongin, but as soon as his brother rushed to Luhan and started shaking the petite boy violently and screaming at him to speak, Sehun lost it and threw his brother to the side as he wrapped a dripping wet Luhan with the closest fabric he could find and marched towards his chamber. It was only when he felt the small body tremble in his arms did he realize he was nearly crushing the boy into his chest, causing Luhan to gasp for air. Sehun immediately loosened his grip and soon placed Luhan on the corner of his bed.

“I’m sorry. Are you alright?” Sehun asked, forgetting that Luhan could neither reply nor understand until the words were out of his mouth. But to his surprise, Luhan’s gaze never left him and nodded instead.

“You can understand me?” Sehun asked, grabbing Luhan’s shoulders until he saw the boy wince in pain before nodding again. Letting go of the boy, Sehun looked at Luhan’s shoulders only to see crescent marks on his pale skin, a cobalt blue pool in the dents made by Kai’s nails. Frowning at the unexpected find, Sehun wiped the blue liquid with a finger, but backed away when he realized it was in fact blood in his hands. The blood was clearer than water yet as blue as sapphires. Then it hit him.

“You’re not human.” Sehun whispered.

Upon hearing these words, Luhan’s eyes widened, grabbed at the blanket around him and dashed towards the door. Even now, his instincts told him to run from Sehun for humans were dangerous. But Sehun was taller, faster, and stronger. He reached the door before Luhan could and pulled the petite body into a warm embrace.

“It’s ok if you’re not human.” He said silently, pleased to discover a secret about his little angel, “I won’t tell anyone.” Sehun paused and cupped Luhan’s face in his hands to check if the boy understood. Yet, upon looking into Luhan’s honeyed eyes, his heart melted, and in a trance like tone, he whispered to the boy. “I love you, and that’s all that matters. I won’t harm you; I’ll protect you no matter what. But please don’t leave, don’t ever leave me.” He said as he placed his lips on Luhan’s.

Love. Luhan contemplated over the human word. What did it mean? But that didn’t matter, as while his wish granted Luhan legs, it did not change the fact that Luhan’s still a child of the sea. Yet, while love made no sense to him, he liked the feeling of Sehun’s lips on his own, and allowed himself to be kissed again.

A knock was heard from the door, and Tao’s voice came from other side.

“Let’s go eat.” Sehun laughed, breaking out of the trance at the sudden noise, but still holding Luhan’s face as if it was the most precious gem in the world. “I bet you’re hungry.”

Luhan wondered what hunger meant, but ignored it as he saw Tao and remembered his price to Kris. Upon leaving the room after Sehun changed him into human clothes, he quickly passed Tao and placed the sea star on Tao’s jacket.

Outside the windows of the castle, Kris cracked a rare genuine smile as he flew to follow the three.

So that’s the new “Tao,” He thought, the one who inherited the title and powers of the hunter.

Kris examined the tall boy in black. Not bad. He smiled. Strong, agile… He flew out of the view of the window as Tao suddenly turned his head to where Kris was less than a second before, and wonderful reflexes. Kris chuckled as Tao turned again, once more only barely missing the ocean spirit. A feisty temper, refuse to doubt himself, and not bad looking at that. Kris chucked to himself bitterly. Maybe this one will actually stand a chance. Maybe this time – just maybe – it’ll be the end of this dreadful curse, my friend. The mischievous smile disappeared from Kris’s face as he landed and sat on the roof of a tower. He replayed the events of the past, the countless times “Tao” had hunted him down and failed to kill him, the countless times the magician was crushed in his own hands while the pain in his chest turns so unbearable that he could only dive back into the ocean, wishing to hide for eternity. But every time a new “Tao” appears, he would somehow be pulled by an extreme longing to be on land again, yet not daring to believe that this is the one that will finally set him free.

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My oh my, 40+ suscribers already? I'm a very happy author today. Thank you so much for liking the story and I love all of the wonderful comments you left =D, all the more fuel for feeding my ego and my writting. To those of you wondering about the ending, I can guarantee you it will be different from the original, but I will not promise anything else =P. I love you all, you are awesome, so I'm going to try to update as soon as possible!  Thank you again!

On a side note, I realized this too late, but the formatting is slightly confusing now that I'm adding in human thoughts. So now, everything that is in italics will be thoughts, while everything in grey will be the language of the sea.