"If you will excuse me, I will be taking my leave now".
My mouth still hung open, "Immortal", "Cannot be reversed", The words were still ringing in my head.
"Wait!", I screamed at him, regaining myself. "Please wait for a second".
He blatantly ignored me, the water now swirling, taking him deeper in.
My heartbeat increased, if I let this man leave I may never see him nor that merman again, and there would be no hope for me.
I jumped into the water, grabbing his shirt before he could go any further. His eyes widened, the pencil behind his ear falling into the water.
Suddenly, I felt something drag me into the water, I held his shirt tighter, my heart threatening to jump out of my mouth.
I opened my mouth to scream, but I shut it the same moment once we were dragged underwater.
I struggled to breathe, my body unable to adjust to the situation I was in, it had happened too suddenly.
Everything turned black for a second, like we had entered an abyss, till it was followed by a loud thud and my body landed on something, a person.
I got up slowly, pushing myself off the body I was on, my breathing heavy and my body trembled from the extreme cold I had just felt in that water.
I turned, looking at the person I just got off his body, it was the red-haired man.
He slowly got up from the floor, his hair and clothes wet just like mine, I thought the water wouldn't affect him or so.
He seemed angry, his eyes shifted to me once he sat up, then he looked back down at himself, "What is your problem mortal?!, This is why I don't deal with your kind".
He got up, getting behind me quickly and placing a hand on my eyes, "Foolish mortal, you would do anything to ensure you reversed your curse, wouldn't you?"
I grabbed his hands, trying to get them off my eyes, he grabbed me quickly with his other hand and everything turned black once again.
The atmosphere became cooler and I could gently hear the sounds of the river as he finally removed his hands from my eyes.
My clothes were still slowly dripping and I felt my feet on the sand. I could feel his presence there with me, I didn't know how, maybe I was slightly scared of him.
I opened my eyes, observing my surroundings , I was back in Marin, the same spot I was when I was in that mysterious place.
My body was shivering immensely, I wasn't yet used to the cool weather of Marin as someone who was previously in a desert, now I had fallen into a river.
I looked up as our eyes met, the red haired man, his clothes were dripping too and he was angrily taking off his jacket.
I got up quickly, realizing what I had done, the man I wanted to beg for another chance was now drenched because of me.
"I am so sor-
"Please keep your apologies to yourself! I have said it countless times that I do not like mortals yet Master Uel keeps sending me to their habitat", He gritted his teeth, throwing his jacket at me before I could process what was happening.
"Put it on, you are shivering", His voice was rough and deep, enough to make me step back for a second.
I looked at the jacket, "Did you say I should put it on?"
He didn't answer, rather he stared at me angrily for an unnecessarily long time till I put the jacket on.
He untied his hair, allowing the water to drip to the floor, before he finally looked at me, "Are you happy now, Mortal?"
"I'm not", I quickly replied. "My intention wasn't to end up in the water, I just wanted to speak to you more about what you said. Isn't it unfair to say something like that and leave?"
"Unfair?", He pushed his hair out of his face, "You don't think you should have considered the consequences of your actions back then?"
"How should I have known he was the actual son of Uranus?!,Any random mad man could say that!"
He looked down for a second, taking a deep sigh, "Your complaints won't bring anything, Mortal. The curse has been placed and it cannot be reversed"
I rolled my fists into a ball, I needed to do something, there was always a way to compromise with the otherworldly,nothing was truly impossible.
I looked up, "What can I sacrifice? I know that's what you're waiting to hear".
He smiled slightly, "Mortals have such simple thinking. You are right that a god would be delighted to hear the word sacrifice, but no god would ask you for something that wouldn't be worse than that curse".
I spread out my hands, looking at the food basket I brought with me, "So there's...nothing I can do?"
He looked at his shirt, "You can start by doing something about our current state, Master Uel may love it but I don't want people to pass by and see me talk no less in a state like this".
He fixated his gaze on me for a second and sighed, "I'll talk to Master Uel, and see what he can do about your case, Mortal".
My eyes widened for a second, not sure if I had heard him right, "Master Uel, as in the Son of Uranus, you'll talk to him for me?!"
He nodded, "I'll try my best". He looked down at his shirt, "But for that to happen, I'll need you to help me with new clothes, it would be shameful to go back in a state like this".
"New clothes?", I looked around me, there were no stores around the riverside and even if there were any nearby, they all sold baked goods, books, and so much more except clothes.
I looked at him, his eyes fixed on his clothes as they seemed to make him uncomfortable, there was only one thing I could think of.
"Can you perhaps fly?", I asked, capturing his attention immediately.
"You cannot?", He asked. "Mortals really are quite physically impaired.
"We are not-", I took a deep breath, holding it in, this wasn't the right person to shout at.
I moved closer to him, pointing at a window, "If we can get inside there, I can give you some clothes to change into".
"That's not a problem, but you would have to close your eyes mortal, I would rather teleport than fly".
I nodded, I didn't really have any other choice but to trust him. I shut my eyes once I was given the signal, a weird feeling running through my body.
It felt like my existence had been erased for a second, no, a millisecond, then it was created once again. The feeling was the same as how I felt when he covered my eyes previously and brought me back here.
The atmosphere became warmer this time, it was obvious we were in something like a room.
"You can open your eyes now, Mortal".
I opened my eyes, taking a breath of relief, "I'll get you something to wear, just keep quiet so-
I stopped in my tracks, my eyes wandering around but my body could no longer move.
He tilted his head, leaning in to look at me, "What is wrong, why did you stop all of a sudden?"
"This isn't ...my room. This isn't even my house!".
A shiver ran through my spine as I suddenly heard a groan, and before I could find a way out of here... a pair of eyes fell on me.