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

~12~

Naida backed up and glared at him. "Stay awa-" She attempted to speak, but the gifts were nearly completely worn off. Her ears popped painfully and she could no longer hear anything but ringing. Her eyes were surly red by how much they stung and how foggy her vision was. And she was now fully choking on the water, unable to catch a breath. She may have been cocky and refusing their touch before, but now that she was actually drowning, she knew she couldn't survive without them. Naida reached out to them, or at least what she thought was them as she couldn't make out any proper shapes and her vision was fading fast as her body threatened to make her pass out.

The three remaining brothers were there in an instant. Naida couldn't tell them apart from one another, and right now she was too panicked to care, as long as they helped her. Hands fell over her eyes, cupped over her ears, and she felt lips again press against hers, forcing air into her lungs.

Finally, everything calmed down. The brothers backed off and Naida coughed up the remaining water in her lungs. She blinked a few times and looked at them guiltily. "I'm sorry. I'm just so confused, it's hard to process all this. Mermen, magic, me. It's all happening so fast, I don't know what to think, how to act." She started to cry, her tears mixing with the saltwater around her.

"You don't have to think, just trust us." Mako cooed. "Trust us and you'll be safe and well cared for. We swear it on mother ocean."

The other three nodded their agreement. "We can go at a pace as slow as you need. The last thing we want is you uncomfortable or hurt." Shark said meaningfully.

Naida sighed and nodded. "I have no other choice."

"Naida, c-can I hug you?" Shark asked sheepishly. Naida looked at him, still crying though her tears weren't visible. She nodded and he swam over to her and held her in his arms as she sobbed. "It's ok now Naida, you're ok, you're safe, and you'll be fine." He comforted her. The other brothers swam over and wrapped their arms around her as well.

A somber aura of peace and safety hung in the air like a fine mist, and at the moment, Naida wasn't scared.

~~~

"Lionfish, this is amazing!" Naida awed as she spun in circles, admiring Lionfish's personal reef from all views.