The dark shadow of a tail swayed below her, shining as it caught fragments of starlight.
“When you’re ready,” she said as if speaking toMihauna, “We’ll dive under. I want you to rememberyouare in control. You, and you alone. And even if it hurts, remember you are safe. I won’t leave you.” She turned, eyes shining over the water. “We need enough depth that the water pressure closes in on you, helping your lungs hold your breath, though it will also make you feel as though you’re being squeezed. We won’t go so far that we stray from Theia’s light. It’ll be cold, uncomfortable at first, but will help you relax when you finally adjust. Remember—you’ve done this part before. You can do it again.”
A sudden knot in my windpipe blocked air from reaching my lungs. I closed and opened my fists, trying to ignore the black depths below my feet.
Selena finally glanced at me. “I’ll help weigh you down. It will take a couple minutes, so we need to act fast, but I won’t start until you let me know you’re ready. Don’t allow fear to take over; it will make the process harder.”
She waited for an indication I understood, and I gave her a brief nod, unable to conjure any word from my lips.
“You’ll release your air, and I’ll inflate your lungs with mine. It’ll hit your system like a drug. You should feel instantly relaxed and at peace. Don't drift too far—I don't want to lose you in the dark. You’ll hold my air for a moment, then breathe it back to me, and we’ll be done. The smell is very metallic. Some think they smell blood. Don’t be alarmed; you won’t bleed. At that point, it will be up to you whether you want to return to the surface. Some newly transitioned Naiads do, to deal with the aftermath on dry land. Some prefer to stay in the water. We can breathe for each other if you want to remain in the sea for up to an hour, but we need to be back on the beach, dry, by the time the sun is up. You don’t have to make that choice now,” she said as I opened my mouth. I closed it, trying to coax my nerves away.
Selena watched me quietly, our bodies rocking back and forth with the help of the water, the small swish and ebb of inky liquid in our ears, waiting to drink us in. I inhaled, filling my lungs with salty air from the bottom up, the heavy taste of mineral sea on my tongue, my throat bottling up like a cork. I pushed under, and felt an oncoming wave collapse over my head, my arms pumping me down. Selena ducked under after me. From below the waves, I watched Selena’s blurry shape. A shadow in the darkness, it was given away only by the luster of her tail which caught the thin streaks of light from above.
We gazed at each other, face to face. Selena levitated as if weightless. I nodded to her, and she closed in, wrapping her muscular tail around my waist and hips.
My heart flew into my throat as we plunged into the black depths in a river of bubbles.
29
Very quickly, the water grew cold. The drop in temperature was the first thing I recognized. The sounds of the open ocean wrapped around me. Thready, like I’d been submerged inside a beating heart. A steady pumping filled my ears. I closed my eyes.
We fell through the strands of the moon.
Selena clung tight, helping me capture the little body heat we could garner together. The cold delved into my mind like barbs catching in soft fabric, crippling my ability to relax. Shoulders and legs so rigid I could barely move except to shiver, I tucked into myself, hoarding any warmth I could find.
My lungs began to feel tight.
Selena released her coil around my body to swim above me, fitting her hands on my curved back and pushing rather than weighing me down. I froze at the muscular power of Selena’s body through her touch, the curve and flick of her tail at each stroke, guiding me deeper. My lungs began to protest, stale air heavy in my chest.
Then, Selena was gone. I was alone, a curled-up ball in the dark. Unfolding slowly, I wiggled my fingers and toes, ensuring they hadn’t fallen off and listening to my body respond with slow reluctance.
At the edge of the moonlight, the first convulsion came like a hiccup. I panicked, scrambling for the surface high above. Selena had waited longer than Nori. Perhaps the delay was part of the ritual, perhaps not—I only knew I was suddenly desperate for air. I clawed upward as my body lurched with a violence I didn't remember from last time. The moon shined through, dim and pale, the size of my thumbprint. It faltered gently over the water, breaking and reforming as waves passed overhead.
The water pressed in on me with dull gravity, distant and strong. A hand slipped into mine, pressing a question into my skin.Are you ready?
I was more than ready, desperate for breath. I expelled lungs free of air, hearing my own forceful burble of release, and squeezed in silent response. Selena found me with roaming hands in the dark. Her cold fingertips ran up my arm, feeling her way to the back of my head, and she drifted close.
Air billowed in like ice carried by wind, cold and potent. As my lungs expanded, my belly grew under my ribcage, the fresh air blasting through the vacant branches of each lobe like new leaves on a tree, growing and unfurling in a single instant. I tilted away, gazing up at the sky, or possibly down at the ocean floor. It was hard to tell, and I didn’t care.
The water of the sea fractured into millions of sparkling drops, collected together and yet set apart. I’d seen this before, how they danced and shimmered in the dark water, glittering just for me. They wove around my arms, kissing my face like a loved one they hadn’t seen in a long time, and I closed my eyes, floating in the embrace with liquid ecstasy.
Under the thick blanket of the ocean, I might have stayed forever. I wasn't cold anymore. I wasn’t anything at all—except content.
A hand grabbed at me, followed by another. They squeezed.
I tried to shake them off, and they gripped tighter. I gave up and relaxed again. The hands gave another squeeze, telling me something important. Something hazy formed in my memory—someone was down here with me in the dark water, someone who was waiting for me to give them something.
Except I didn’t really want to.
I could happily live the remainder of my life here without a care in the world. The hands shook mine gently, and I ignored them. They yanked hard, and I jerked my arm away, suddenly angry.
The hands didn’t release. They tugged me forcefully once again, and I vaulted back, finally agitated enough to strike out, slapping the hands away. It was dark; I missed. But the focus of my attack broke through my sleepy fog. I remembered Selena and the breath I needed to give back.
We found each other again, fingers brushing against each other, and Selena grabbed hold with clinging desperation, ready to increase the scale of assault to help me wake.
I pushed Selena’s arms out of the way, found her chin, and exhaled.
Any sense of peace and serenity washed away as I emptied my lungs, the sharp penetration of clarity filling me instead. I couldn’t move. The blood in my veins hardened like liquid mercury, heavy and thick. My legs slowly exploded. I pushed my hands down toward them, feeling them with my fingertips, desperate to know they were still there. They were—though they burned with fire. Wave over wave of agony coursed through me, and despite the firmness of my own flesh under my hands, I was sure they had fallen off.
