As time passed, Princess BLM’s army of Tragic Heroes grew. She waited patiently for the arrival of the two most tragic figures of all. The two she would name Generals. Kingbird and Jade Swallow. Before entering her world, they must live a thousand lives doomed to love one another without a “happily ever after.” Princess BLM watched the couple as their destiny unraveled.

A thousand shards of a broken mirror for a thousand lives of a broken soul, each piece reflecting a different tragic end. With a careful hand, she raised a shard up against the light. It was an image of a remote island surrounded by a peaceful sea. Seated upon her throne, Princess BLM watched intently as the foamy waves gently rolled up, the white sands.

Cyn laid there on the sandy beach with her arms extended above her head. She smiled as the morning light warmed her whole body from head to tail. Her scales sparkled, blinding Jae, the sky guardian as he watched her from above. It wasn’t the first time he spied on the sea princess as she bathed herself in the sun. Today was different though. She waved her arms wildly in the air. Her tail swished side to side. It was quite a funny sight. Jae would have laughed if he knew how to. Unlike his fellow sky guardians, he was born without the ability to feel.

Totally disengaged.

Still… he was curious. Spreading his beautiful wings, he flew down from the clouds.

“Do you need help getting back into the ocean or have you gone mad?” Jae asked bluntly as he landed on the soft sand with his wings folded against his back.

Cyn was a bit startled but she relaxed when she saw who it was. He was her guardian angel.

“Mmmm… I was pretending to fly and don’t you dare laugh.” She sat up, laughing at her own silliness.

“Why would you want to pretend to fly? You can swim instead.” He watched as she shook her head, the loose sand fell from her reddish-brown hair.

“You don’t understand... I want to know what it feels like to soar in the air like you do. The freedom of flying through the sky…” She eyed the clouds dreamily. “I’ve watched you, you know? When the sun sets, I always see you disappear into the clouds.”

Jae sat down beside her and watched the waves retreated back into the ocean. Cyn looked at him for a while before turning her full attention to the tangles in her hair.

“Do you really want to fly?”

“Mmhmm…”

“Well, you can fly with my help.”

“Mmhmm…” she wasn’t really listening. The knots in her hair were that bad.

“Let’s fly then.” Jae suddenly scooped her up in his arms and leaped into the air with his wings open.

Cyn almost had a heart attack. She wrapped her arms tightly around Jae’s neck and screamed.

With her eyes closed, she yelled in his ear, “What are you doing?!?”

Jae was confused, “You said you wanted to fly. Why are you angry? Aren’t you flying now?” He looked down at her. She had her eyes glued shut.

“Open your eyes. You can’t see a thing with them closed.”

“But I’m scared… and it’s all your fault. You’re a bad guardian angel!” Cyn tightened her grip on Jae’s neck and leaned closer to his body. She was cold and afraid.

“There is nothing to fear, little fish. Just open those big pretty eyes of yours… wait… when did I become your guardian angel? I’m a SKY GUARDIAN.”

“Birdie, you’re a bad guardian angel!”

Jae was tempted to drop here right then and there. “If you keep screaming in my ear like that, I’m going to throw you back into the ocean where you belong.”

“Don’t drop me! Sorry, I’ll open my eyes…” Cyn was amazed at what she saw. It was her ocean but from very far away.

“I’m really flying!” Cyn’s outburst caused him to lose his grip and she slipped.

When they both landed on firm ground, Cyn showed no mercy as she strangled him. “How could you drop me like that?!? Bad Birdie! Bad Birdie!”

Jae tried to get her off. “I caught you, didn't I? Besides, I didn’t mean to drop you on purpose. Do you know how slippery that tail of yours is?”

When he tried to loosen her grip, he almost lost his balance.

“You dropped me and now you’re blaming it on my tail?!?” Cyn released her hold and sat down on the sand with her arms crossed.

“I’m leaving then, ungrateful little fish.” Jae rubbed his sore neck and took off.

“Hey! I’m not finished with you!” She watched as he disappeared into the clouds.

After that first time, he took her flying every single day. She laughed and smiled.

“Birdie, I never see you smile. How come?” Cyn got into the habit of calling him Birdie.

“I just don’t." Jae helped untangle her hair with the comb he borrowed from the sky palace.

“It’s okay, Birdie. You don’t have to smile if you don’t want to. I will smile enough for both of us.”

“Why are you crying, little fish?” Jae just stood there and watched the tears stream down her pale face. He didn’t know what to do.

“I won’t be able to come up every day to see you anymore…”

“Why?” He crouched down in front of her and started to wipe away her tears with his hand. If she continued to cry, she might flood the whole island.

“My father made a deal with the Jilon monster of the deep… Jilon swore that it would never rest until the entire underwater kingdom is destroyed unless… I keep it company.”

“You can come with me. I can take you away where there is no monster of the deep.”

“No Birdie, I can’t let my kingdom suffer. I must go. You don’t have to come down and fly me anymore.” She kissed him gently on his soft lips.

Jae could taste her bitter tears.

And she was gone.

He couldn’t swim.

And still…

He took the dive.

Cold.

Jae felt pain for the first time as the water filled his lungs. She was out of his reach. His smiling fish friend had left him.

He drank it all in.

The water.

The pain.

His only wish was to be closer to her, to feel her warmth but that was impossible. It was already too late to “feel.”

Two seagulls swooped down to find his lifeless body bobbing up and down upon the waves. Touched by his attempt, they cried for his loss. The two seagulls called upon their winged friends for help. To fulfill his last wish, they tried to sink him to the bottom of the sea. Only then could he be closer to her. The birds pecked and clawed but the heartless ocean pulled him away. His carcass was dragged ashore by the strong, merciless current.

He wasn’t even allowed to rest in the same ocean as her…

Cyn still held on to the hopes of seeing him again. She wanted to live to see him smile.

Every day, she would smile enough for both of them... not knowing…

He was already dead.

Princess BLM watched the image of Birdie and little fish fade away without shedding a single tear. The shard she held in her hand blackened.