“Who are you?” Lay squinted his eyes to try to examine her features but the scarf around her head got in the way.

 

“I-I didn’t mean t-” Before she could finish her sentence, she collapsed to the ground.

 

Lay’s eyes widened in shock. He immediately crouched down to check on her. He put a finger against her nose to feel for air, just in case she wasn’t breathing. When he found that she was, he looked to Chen for help in carrying her inside the hut. However, as soon as he did, he noticed a few sparks fly off Chen’s right hand. Realization dawned on him, “Why did you do it? I thought this lady was your lover?”

 

“She’s just someone I used to know.”

 

“Still an acquaintance. Why did you do that? Don’t you know that it’s dangerous? Don’t you care for her? The way you acted a while ago tells me that you do.”

 

“It wasn’t my intention to harm her at all. I just gave her a little shock to get her to sleep so I can take this,” Chen reached for the necklace hanging around her neck, but before he could pull it off Lay stopped him with a firm grip on his arm. 

 

“You’re telling me that you plan to steal from her?” Lay said with a firm voice.

 

Chen looked at him, almost pleading, “Lay, you know how valuable these things are, especially to us. And she won’t have to know, that’s why she’s unconscious. I won’t leave right after, I promised to help her out and I will. The crystal will be her payment.”

 

“This is why a pirate’s life is not meant for me,” he shook his head in disapproval.

 

“We’re not pirates Lay, just treasure hunters.”

 

“Yet you make yourselves out to be pirates.”

 

“It’s for protection, we’ve explained this to you.”

 

“Well, now I am convinced that you all have taken up the qualities of the mask that you wear. A treasure hunter searches for treasure and a pirate steals it. Know the difference,” Lay said before pulling Chen’s hand off the necklace and carrying Jinju into the hut. “I stand by my decision. I will not join your crew. And because of what you have shown me today, you are no longer welcome in my home.” He then slammed the door with his last words.

 

Chen banged on the door. “Lay! Open up! I’m sorry, it won’t happen again.” No matter what he said, Lay said nothing nor did he open the door. Chen turned around and mussed his hair in frustration. “Great, Suho will have my for this.” Before he could pity himself, a wisp of black smoke appeared out of nowhere and materialized into a man slightly taller than him, standing with a slight curve to his back.

 

“Finally!” the man exclaimed.

 

“Kai, what are you doing here,” Chen said with a slightly panicked voice, looking around to see if anyone saw what just happened. 

 

“Chen, where have you been? I’ve been trying several times to get to you, but nothing was working,” the man called Kai stomped in his direction with a scowl on his face. Chen inclined his head toward Lay’s hut to answer his question. “Well did you get him to agree yet? We’re running out of time. We need to leave this place as soon as possible. Now would be best.”

 

“What? I thought we were staying here for another fortnight.”

 

“We were, but some troublesome pirates docked just recently and Suho thinks the sooner we can leave, the better.”

 

“Who is it?”

 

“I didn’t really catch the name. Suho just told me to quickly gather everyone and you’re the last.”

 

“We can’t leave without Lay. We need his healing abilities if we’re going to continue with our hunt. He has a rare gift, we won’t be able to find another one like him.”

 

“Then let’s just take him by force,” Kai said then took a hold of Chen’s arm.

 

“Don’t do i—“ Before Chen could finish his warning, Kai snapped his fingers and they both disappeared leaving behind a plume of smoke. “—t,” they appeared seconds later in the back of Lay’s hut and Chen made sure to give Kai a hard slap to the back of his head.

 

“Huh? Why didn’t it work?” Kai scratched his head.

 

“You dolt. If I could use my abilities don’t you think I would’ve already burnt my way through the door? Nothing works. That hut is protected, somehow. Besides, Suho said to convince him, not force him to come with us.”

 

“Well then what should we do?”

 

“Just take me back to Suho. I’ll have a talk with him.”

 

~~~*~~~

 

It’s been a few hours since Jinju passed out. When she finally woke up, she felt someone staring so she turned her head to the left and found Lay staring intently, the scarf that was around her head laying on his lap. She jolted up in surprise, but wished she hadn’t when her neck was so sore. “Ahh,” she grunted in pain.

 

“That will hurt for a while. It’s one of the nasty effects of being shocked.”

 

“Shocked?”

 

Lay ignored her statement. He decided earlier on that he wouldn’t talk about what happened until he got answers to his questions. “So, who are you?”

 

“My name is Jinju.”

 

“Your name isn’t what I was looking for and I think you know that.”

 

Jinju looked down at her hands and said softly, “Whatever happened earlier...I didn’t intend for that to happen.”

 

“I’m not accusing you of any wrongdoing so relax. Your secret is safe with me, we’re the same after all.”

 

“Ever since I was little, I’ve always been able to move the winds in any direction I wanted. Over time, I also learned to create winds. But it wasn’t only until I met a mermaid—“

 

“And I assume it is from that mermaid that you obtained your crystal,” Lay interrupted.

 

Jinju held the said crystal in her grasp and nodded. “She gave it to me because I saved her. There were these pirates that held her captive in a net. I was able to let her go while they left and the person they left behind fell asleep. She plucked one of her scales and had it in her hand for a while until she handed me a glittering crystal. She told me to use my ability as if I’m trying to bottle it into the crystal and when I finally did, the glitters turned white. She said never to lose it and it will protect me, but that I should be careful of who I show it to because it could turn out dangerous.”

 

“It is indeed. Crystals like yours are quite rare, most of what is found lying around are clear empty ones. I have only ever seen one other like yours.” As Lay said this, he was clutching on to something attached to the fabric of his left shoulder.

 

Jinju noticed the gesture and asked, “Is that it?”

 

Lay solemnly looked at her and shook his head while letting go of his hold. Once the crystal could be seen, she noticed it looked like the one Chen had taken from the man that attacked them, a clear tear shape. 

 

“Where did you see it then?”

 

“I used to be in possession of one until I had to let it go.”

 

“Go? I thought you said they’re rare. Why would you willingly let go of yours?” When she saw how sad he looked after her question, she instead asked, “So did you save a mermaid too?”

 

“No, she was a mermaid I befriended and eventually fell in love with,” that was all that he wanted to say about it and Jinju did not press him. “Is there a reason why your crystal is stealing energy? I have never encountered anything like it.”

 

“I don’t know. I’m not very familiar with how it works.”

 

“The crystal stores energy, your energy or more accurately, the energy that comes from your ability. It does this constantly. The crystal can also give energy, which you’ve probably figured out.” Jinju nodded her head in agreement. The crystal helped her with bigger demands to her ability, like calming a storm. “Any crystal can do these two things without effort, almost like breathing. But it only does so with it’s owner. That’s why it’s strange that your crystal took energy from me without me voluntarily giving it, as if it was recognizing me as its owner.“

 

“Could it have something to do with my condition?”

 

“What condition?”

 

“Before you touched me, I didn’t feel too good and I’ve been separated from my crystal for a while. After you grazed my shoulder, I felt much better and the crystal was warm to the touch. And you’re a healer, so I’m guessing that’s your ability. Could it be that the crystal knew what I needed and decided to protect me by getting it from you?”

 

“That makes sense, but it doesn’t explain why it remained inactive when I touched you two other times while you were unconscious, especially since you needed healing then,” Lay said.

 

“Do you mean my sore neck?”

 

“Yes, somewhat...”

 

“It’s not so bad. Maybe the crystal only goes into action when it really needs to. My condition earlier was worse, I couldn’t even stand.” Her stomach growled as soon as she finished her words.

 

Lay smiled at her, his dimples very pronounced. “I’ll prepare something for you,” he said and stood up to go to the kitchen.

 

Now that he wasn’t right beside her, Jinju could silently look around the place. She noticed that the bed she was sitting on was only a few steps away from the door and the kitchen. It was a simple and small hut that was as wide and long as two row boats. The most interesting detail was that the walls and ceiling were covered in a curtain of scales. She moved closer to the wall to examine them. Individual scales were about the size of her thumb and were of an iridescent green color. Before she could feel it, Lay came back with a tray of rice and grilled fish.

 

“I’m sorry, but this is all I have left from lunch.”

 

Jinju gratefully received the tray and said, “No, this is great. Thank you.” She started to nibble on the food.

 

“Is the food not to your liking? Aren’t you hungry? Should I make something else for you?” Lay noticed how slow and tiny her bites were.

 

Jinju shook her head, “This is fine. It’s just that I’ve learned from experience that eating voraciously on an empty stomach becomes painful after a while.”

 

“That usually happens if you’ve been without food for days. Where exactly did Chen find you, for you to look like this,” Lay’s eyebrows knotted as he noticed how thin she was. 

 

“I...”

 

“If you don’t want to say, that’s fine. We all have our own secrets.”

 

“Is there a reason why your whole house is covered in scales?” Jinju tried to change the subject.

 

“They’re mermaid scales, for protection. They prevent anyone with the gift from using their abilities in and around the house.”

 

“I don’t understand, I thought mermaid scales turn into crystals.”

 

“That’s what everyone believes and why mermaids are being hunted, but a mermaid’s scale only turns into crystal if the mermaid herself plucks it off or it falls off naturally. It’s the reason why even clear crystals fetch for a good amount of gold.” 

 

“But why do normal people find it valuable if we are the only ones able to use it?”

 

“In this world, anything rare is considered valuable. Especially if it affords power to a select few.”

 

“So then how did you accumulate so much scales?” Before he could answer her question, they were interrupted by incessant banging on the door. Jinju immediately turned to the door, but Lay remained motionless. “Aren’t you going to get that?”

 

“Lay, open up! Please, we need your help. Something’s happened and we don’t know how to fix it,” Jinju could recognize Chen’s voice come through. “It’s Baekhyun, we think he’s dying.”

 

After hearing those words, Jinju turned to Lay. He sighed and stood up. Before turning the knob, he turned back to her and said, “Stay here, it’s for your own protection.”