The Ocean's Song (pt. 1) (Going through edits)

~8~

Mako shook his head. "The ocean gave you a second life, so now it is your life. You can breathe air, as can we, but the longer you are on land the weaker you become until eventually, you get nauseous, sick, and after long enough, you..." Mako didn't finish.

"Die." Shark finished for him. "And you can't survive underwater either, not without us and our powers. If we aren't there to constantly give you our gifts, then your water effects will wear off, and you'll return to normal." He closed his eyes, clearly troubled.

"If the ocean gave me a second life, why can't I survive underwater on my own?" Naida blurted angrily.

"Because, my pearl, that's my pet name for you now, by the way, you only loved the ocean because of us, so it gave you a second life, but only with us. It's only fair." Lionfish purred and swam up next to Naida.

Naida shifted uncomfortably. "But you covered all aspects of the ocean, and I loved every little thing about it! I even picked up any trash that was left or washed up on the beach, how's this fair? No offense to you guys, but I have to spend the rest of my life, with mermen? What about my life above the ocean?"

"Would you rather be dead right now, or get to hang out with four cute mermen and one very hot, masculine, amazing, lionfish merman?" Lionfish sidled up next to her and put his arm around her shoulders.

Naida pushed him off of her. "I guess it's good to be alive, but, I'm now a slave to the ocean, and my life depends on you guys." She pulled her legs to her chest and wrapped her arms around them.

"I can see how that'd be kinda bad." Lionfish muttered, now upside down because of Nadia.

"If I have to spend the rest of my life with you, can I have a room here at least? I'd feel more comfortable with a little more privacy." Naida suggested and looked around the room, realizing how exposed it was.

Ray shook his head. "I suppose you could... but in a room by yourself, predators could easily come in and snatch you up, and now that you're alive because of the ocean, that pretty much makes you her adopted child, so I assume you'll be seeing other merfolk and sirens. We can't leave you unprotected now that threats like that exist to you. Your life now depends on us, so we're going to do everything we possibly can to make sure that your life will be just as long and as exciting as it would be on land."