Serah gazed from her bedroom and swam over to her bed, where she quietly lied down with a depressed expression on her face. Out of boredom, she traced a circle with her index finger on her seaweed embedded bed, sighing softly to herself. 

Bored as ever, she quietly sang an ancient song to alleviate her mood. Her euphonious voice flowed beautifully in her room, and she smiled and continued singing.

Once she had completed the song, she was upset again, and her mind flashbacked to the scene where she had arrived back home.

Luhan's eyes burned with worry and anger as he watched Serah enter their home's passageway. Her parents had their hands crossed, and Serah gulped; she knew what was about to happen.

"You surfaced without permission again. Did you?" Her mother's penetrating eyes stared into Serah's. Serah flinched and quietly nodded her head in guilt. Her face wrinkled in fear of what her punishment may be.

"Young lady, you will be punished for your behavior." Serah's father cut in: his voice even more powerful than her mother’s. 

Serah only listened obediently and reluctantly accepted her punishment.

She was to be confined to her room for the following days, and when school resumed, she was to be accompanied by Luhan so that she would not stray away from Atlantis and perform such an irresponsible act again.

"Oh that's not it." Serah's mother continued.

"You are to clean our entire house and assist your father as he builds a new passageway for a guest room." 

"I will also assign you more chores. Be prepared, Serah." Her mother finished and firmly nodded her head.

"We're not trying to kill you with all these punishments, Serah. But if we don't, when will you ever learn?" Serah's father's voice softened, and a guilty Serah only nodded her head in silence. 

It was what she deserved.

Luhan sighed as he watched how regretful his sister looked. 

She was quite the curious, wild one. Why were women so enchanted by the human's world? Luhan believed that Atlantis had everything there was for the mermen. The city was absolutely beautiful, sparkling in crystal like jewels. On days when sunlight from the human's world sharply penetrated the ocean's surface, Atlantis glowed in its brightest hues, and the city was basked in warm light.

Sehun peeked from her window and sighed as he noticed how depressed Serah was.

"Serah!" He called as he tapped her window lightly with his fin. 

Serah, surprised by a sudden disturbance, smiled as she saw Sehun by her window. Finally, she would have someone to consult to after a long day of not being able to venture outside.

She pouted upon reaching the window and lightly placed her fingers on the glass. "I'm in trouble." She mouthed, and Sehun nodded his head, fully understanding that she had been punished. “I warned you.” He softly answered, and she shrugged her shoulders.

“It is what it is.” Her voice was full of resignation, but Sehun noticed that there was still a glint of light in her eyes.

Sehun knew.

Serah still wanted to visit the human’s world again.

“Class, pay attention.” Dr. Kim raised his voice, as students digressed from his lecture. He loudly tapped the chalkboard, and the students, who all had very sensitive ears, turned around.

“Thank-you.” Dr. Kim smiled, and some of the mermaids in the room swooned over the man’s gorgeous smile. Dr. Kim was a fairly young teacher of around 22 years old, and he was quite a handsome merman. But his physical features were not his only appealing attributes. He was also very rich and was actively devoted in his part-time occupation as a philanthropist.

Serah was unlike the other girls.

Of course, she used to be like them, gossiping about how wonderful and attractive her Biochemistry teacher was, but her mind was caught up in something else. She placed her palms against her cheeks, tilted her head, and stared off into space.

“Serah, please answer this question.” Dr. Kim pointed his chalk at Serah who was taken by aback.

“Um…um…” She stammered and then apologized by bowing.

“Please listen next time, or I will have to send you outside.” Dr. Kim gave her a reluctant smile, and Serah instantly felt bad. The girls around her desk began whispering. Gossip, pretty much.

“..Oooh. Dr. Kim scolded her…”

“Actually I’d also like to be scolded by him..he’s so adorable.” Another girl giggled along her lines and was responded with a light slap on her shoulder from her friend.

“Oh. We have a new student.” “My oh my.” Dr. Kim’s voice had suddenly diverted from his lecture, and Serah looked up to see a beautiful mermaid floating in the front of the room. Instantly, her beauty silenced everyone who was in complete awe, and she, who seemed to have liked the attention, scoffed.

“Sassy.” Serah mumbled under her breath and rolled her eyes, shifting her attention back to the window.

“Hello everyone. My name is Krystal. I hope everyone will treat me well.”

Serah cringed upon hearing her voice. For some reason, it had a mixture of malice and ice in it.

“Thank-you, Krystal. Now, you may take a seat in front of Serah.”

Serah’s ears perked up and she turned her head back to the front of the classroom. Her eyes met with Krystal’s, and an imaginary form of spark seemed to have formed between them. She smiled at Serah, and gracefully swam over to properly sit in her seat.

“Serah, since you and Krystal are seat-partners, would you also like to introduce her to everything? She’s new and all.” Dr. Kim laughed, and Serah gulped.

“Yeah, no problem.” She reluctantly said, and Dr. Kim nodded his head. Serah turned her head and observed Krystal from behind.

Something was strange.

Serah was slightly paralyzed by the new girl’s strange aura.

This is strange. She looks like a mermaid, but there’s something about her that doesn’t se-.

“Hi, I hope we can be good friends.” Krystal’s sudden voice instantly cut Serah’s train of thoughts.  The new girl had turned around in her seat to shake Serah’s hand. Serah bit her lip and quietly nodded her head, but she hesitantly shook Krystal’s hand.

Serah’s classes had passed by quite quickly, and she was now sitting in the block of her last period, choir. Choir was a fundamental part of mermen school; everyone was required to take singing lessons. Serah enjoyed every minute of choir for she was very gifted when it came to singing.

Every interval and octave that she sang was beautifully rendered and mastered in her originality. No matter what type of song it was, Serah would always be able to create her own transitions.

Krystal squeezed into the passageway that led to the Choir classroom and swam toward Serah’s side. Everyone had already gathered, and Krystal was late. She was supposed to have followed Serah the entire day, but she had wandered off on her own during the break. The teacher excused her since she was still new to the school.

Serah flinched and noticed that that grim, scornful smile was still there on Krystal’s face.

“Hello, Krystal, I am your choir teacher for the rest of your year. Because the atmosphere in this room is fairly informal, you may call me Chen.” He warmly smiled at her, and Krystal gave him a small nod.

“If you have any troubles with tone or anything, you can also consult Serah.” Chen laughed and patted Serah’s shoulder.

“She is an excellent singer.” Chen smiled and then left for the front of the classroom.

“I’m bad at singing so I think you should probably help me.” Krystal's voice crept behind Serah who slightly flinched.

Serah felt that Krystal’s request almost seemed like it was being forced.

“Um.”

“Sure..sure.” Serah roughly stammered.

Krystal laughed, her voice sending shivers down Serah’s spine.

update 8/16/13