Warning: Fantasy ahead

No one’s POV

‘Since this was the last of him seeing me I just wanted to give him a little surprise.’ Leo said in his head. When he continued swimming his smile faded away. He realized that now his life is back to the way it was, all alone. He didn’t quite fit in with the other mermen since his personality was so different. Not only that but he didn’t have any parents. The other mermen and mermaids would say mean things like the abandoned, the unwanted, and much harsher names. It seems like they had abandoned him when he was very young. He had no memories of his parents or any siblings. He was living with a grandfather that had adopted him but he just recently passed away. Leo was completely alone now. He quickly swam back home to a little cave where he was living by himself. When he had moved in he found a book. It was all about the forbidden things under the deep sea. Right when he had read the book he had decided to see the sea witch. The biggest problem was waiting for the high tides because only then would the sea witch be able to cast a spell and of course finding the sea witch would be difficult. It is only during the high tides that the sea witch would be able to cast a spell. However, finding the sea witch isn’t easy. Some had said that Zeus had banished her off into a prison cave in the deepest part of the ocean. Others said that she had accidently trapped herself in cave when she was testing new potions. All were just rumors though.

“I’m going to leave the sea for good. I would do anything to be a human.” He said to himself. After packing the things he needed he went on the expedition in search of the sea witch. It was very difficult since he had to swim all the way down to the sea bottom. For humans it just might be impossible to reach here. After swimming nonstop he decided to have a break. Just then he saw an eel pass by.

“Oh excuse me” Leo spoke out to the eel.

“Do you happen to know where the sea witch is?” He asked.

“Why would a mermen like you want to see the sea witch?” The eel hissed.

“Personal problems.”

“From what I know if you have enough desire she will come see you.” The eel said shortly and swam away.

“She will come to me? If that’s true then I’ve been swimming for nothing.” Leo sighed.

“Desire…” Leo began thinking.

“I… want to become a human.” Leo closed his eyes and said out loud. After a moment he felt a strong current beneath his tail. He looked down and saw and big hole.

“I found it.” He smiled. He didn’t hesitate at all and swam down the hole. He forced himself against the current until he’d reached a vast area filled with darkness.

 “Sea witch!” He shouted.

“I’ve been waiting.” He heard a voice. He turned around and couldn’t believe it was true. The sea witch was there right next to him. She had the upper body of a woman but the bottom part of an octopus. She was very large and dark looking.

“You knew I was coming?” He asked her.

“Of course and I even know what you want from me.” She chuckled.

“I would like to become a human!” Leo said straight out.

“Ha, that last time I had someone who want to become a human was that little mermaid. How long has it been? Over 200 years ago I believe. As you might have already known everything comes with a price” She smirked

“I know. I’ve read about it and understand the consequences.”

“Understand? Little merman, everyone will pay a different price.” She said making Leo a bit surprised.

“Why is that?” He was confused

“Because you are a different merman and I wanted something else from you.”

“So you’re not going to take my voice?”

“Oh no, why would I want a voice like yours?”

“Then what will you need from me?”

“Who knows? I don’t see anything that I want from you.” She paced around Leo

“If my true loves someone else then-“

“No, you don’t have a true love!” She said back

“There are two conditions that will be the same.”

“What is it?”

“Once you’ve become human, you will never be able to turn back into a merman.

“Okay, whats the other one?”

“That when you drink the potion it will make you feel as if a sword is being passed through you.”

“Yes, I am willing to go through that in order to become human.”

“Thats not all little merman. I still need something from you after all. “ She continued thinking

“Ah- ha, I want your energy.” She smirked

“So you’re just going to all of my energy out right now and make me old?” Leo was a bit confused.

“No, that will be too wasteful of your energy. It’s better to take a little each time and let you regain your energy afterwards. There’s no need to take it all at once.” She continued thinking of a good trade off.

“Ah. Every full moon for an entire year you will lose your energy and will suffer to the point you wish you were dead. From the strands of your hair to the tip of your toenail, every part of you will be in pain. Talking, walking, even breathing will be hard for you.”

“But I won’t die from it right?”

“No, unless you take the easy way out and kill yourself but I don’t see cowardice in you.”

“What’s going to happen to my energy?”

“It will come to me of course. When you feel like dying I will feel alive. I’ve been getting a bit older now and feeling a bit sluggish.” She hissed.

“I accept that trade off.”

“Something still feels like it’s missing.” She was hesitant.

“Like what?”

“You are a really good liar.” She said making Leo surprise.

“No, I’m not.” Leo denied.

“Dearie I know everything about you. How about I leave that for a surprised for you?” She said and swam into her cave.

“Surprise? You’re not going to tell what you’re going to do with me lying?”

“Nope. Here you go.” She handed him a seashell bottle.

“Drink this potion when you are at the surface during high tides.” She said.

“T-this is it?” Leo was so happy.

“Yes. Now go dearie you only have a few hours until the high tides come.”

“Thank you so much.” He immediately swam away.

“Oh dear did I forget to tell him that he will be stuck on that little island all by himself. I did, didn’t I? Only way to leave the island is if someone comes and that will be very difficult due to my spell.” The sea witch smirked.

“All well.” she didn’t even bothered telling Leo and just went back into her cave. Hours later Leo was still swimming to the surface. He was eager to drink the potion because the high tides were already coming in but he’s not at the surface yet. Right when he saw that he was near the surface he had already finished the bottle of potion.  The warm liquid ran down his throat and sent a tingle throughout his body. He then began coughing and choking on the water.

‘Oh, I can’t breath underwater anymore.’ Leo struggle and continued swimming to the surface but he was having a difficult time. He no long had a tail and was not use to swimming with legs. After a long struggle he managed to reach the surface.

“Huh, huh.” He huffed and coughed.

‘Oh I can make a sound now.’ Leo touched his throat. He can now finally talk in a human language. What he’s been learning was Korean since where he lived was right beneath Korea.

“I-I” He said and smiled.

“YES, I can talk.” He shouted.

“Woah, I almost died as a human and couldn’t even walked on land yet.” He giggled before quickly swimming over to the sandy beach. He felt the sand underneath his feet and tried standing up. He took a step forward and chuckled out loud.

“This feels amazing” He wiggled his toes. Step after step slowly he finally left the water and was on land.

“I FEEL ALIVE!!!” He shouted as loud as he could. He then collapsed onto the sand and lay down on his back looking up to the night sky. He couldn’t stop smiling since he was so happy.