I opened my eyes, everything was blurry and blue. My lungs burned and I was dizzy and weak. I realized I was in the water, but my body wouldn't let me take a breath. I needed oxygen, but I didn't know where I was. My heart pounded, I heard muffled voices and weakly tried to move, but by limbs felt like lead. I saw a blurry shape appear, surrounded by bubbles, it swam towards me and grabbed my arms, pulling me up. My head broke the surface and I coughed, gasping for air.
My rescuer turned out to be a male human, his arm was wrapped around my waist and the other gripped a ledge by the water. As I coughed up water, my rescuer hauled me onto dry land.
"Are you okay?" he asked as soon as I could breathe normally. I nodded, too weak to form words. He called to another human, this one was female, and she wrapped me up in a soft material that warmed my skin. The male picked me up and carried me to his dwelling, where I was placed on a puffy chair, which I learned later, was a couch.
"Mom will be home later," the female was talking, "What are we going to tell her?"
"I don't know." The male sounded nervous.
"We can't keep her!" the female blurted out. "We don't have any room"
"Well," The male began.
"NO!" The female's voice was forceful and I could hear a hint of sadness hidden in the anger. I fidgeted on the couch and opened my eyes. The two humans looked at me and an unspoken agreement passed between the two of them.
"I'll get the bed ready," the female sighed and trotted out of the room. The male crouched next to me, his brow furrowed in confusion.
"What's your name?" He asked though it was clear that wasn't the only question he had.
"Princess Nereida," I mumbled, still weak from my near death encounter.
"Princess?" He echoed, "You're a princess?"
"Well, she definitely looks like one." The female was back. As she came closer I realized how much she looked like Meri. Her hair was more caramel than blonde, but it curled in the same way. Her eyes were the same though, bright sapphire eyes that glowed with warmth and comfort.
"A sea nymph princess." I corrected, pushing myself into a sitting position. The room spun and I closed my eyes for a moment.
"A sea nymph?" The male turned and looked at the female.
"If you're a sea nymph, why did you almost drown in our pool?" The female asked.
"I don't know." I answered, "I can breathe underwater easily, but apparently I was put under a curse."
"A curse?" The female asked, raising her eyebrows, "How did you even get there?"
"Meri..." I trailed off.
"Who's Meri?" The male asked.
"She's my friend, or was my friend." I took a deep breath, "She was killed by a sea demon of sorts and I was sent to your...pool" A click sounded through the house and the humans looked at each other.
"Get her to your room." The male whispered in an urgent tone. "I got mom."
"Are you sure?" The female asked.
"Just do it!" The male responded, shoving her towards me. The female pulled me up and ushered me down the hall, pulling me into a room.
Two beds sat in the room with pink and orange splattered sheets. A dresser stood in front of the beds with a mirror on top of it. Pictures of two identical girls plastered the walls.
"You have a twin?" I asked as I stared at the pictures in awe.
"Had a twin." She drifted over to a desk in the corner and picked up a picture. "Lexi and Lani, sisters by chance friends by choice." She blinked back tears and wiped her eyes.
"Can I ask what happened?"
"Cancer." she tried to control herself as the story spilled out. "She started to get random fevers and she would wake up sweating at night. We took her to the doctor and they did a few tests. Apparently, she had Leukemia." She said the last part as though she was upset at the universe for causing this pain upon her.
"I'm sorry." I murmured. I knew about this Cancer. It had taken many mortals lives and my heart went out to their families.
"It's okay." She mumbled. She dried her eyes and sat down on her bed.
"So you're Lexi?"
"Lani." She responded, "My brother, the guy that rescued you from the pool, is Sawyer."
The door opened and a lady entered, followed by Sawyer. "So you're Nereida." She said it more like a statement than a question.
"Y-yes." I stuttered. There was an air of authority radiated from her and I felt defenseless.
"There's no need to be scared dear." Her gray/blue eyes crinkled as she smiled. I managed a small smile and hers grew bigger. "We'll take great care of you until your parents return, but in the meantime, you're going to have to help me around the house while Lani and Sawyer are at school." I was going to explain to her that I need to get back to my kingdom until I caught sight of Sawyer's face and that shut me up real quick.
"Thank you for letting me stay in your dwell-home." I stumbled over my words but ended with a smile.
"No problem sweetie dinner is ready in an hour." She left the room.
I glanced at Sawyer who's urgent expression melted once his mom was out of sight. "Ok let's get some things straight," Sawyer started, sitting next to Lani on the bed, "Your parents are out of town for two years or more, they travel the world as animal photographers, and you have been homeschooled for most of your life." I blinked.
"That's not true at all." I started, but Sawyer cut me off.
"I know but that's what you need to tell people, we don't know if what you're saying is the truth but we decided to believe you. Other people might not."
"You could be thrown into a mental hospital." Lani finished. I stared at their expressions. They looked pretty serious and I didn't want to find out what a mental hospital was.
"Fine," I nodded, "That's my story." They looked relieved.
"I'm going to my room, don't do anything stupid." Sawyer stood up and left the room, leaving the door open a crack.
***
Okay, I can't help it anymore, Nereida is hot. When I pulled her out of the pool I was expecting her to be an average teenage girl, instead, I was met with her dazzling beauty. She had gorgeous brown hair that tumbled in waves down to her hips, her face was perfectly sculpted with high cheekbones and a perfectly angled jaw. Her chocolate eyes had adorable little golden flecks floating in them and had a mysterious look to them. Don't get me started on the dress she was wearing. It's blue color suited her fair skin perfectly and it hugged her waist, flaring out at her hips. I collapsed onto my bed, staring at the ceiling, who was this girl?
At dinner, I tried to keep my eyes on my plate but they kept straying to Nereida who was picking at her food. Lani caught me once or twice and I earned a kick under the table.
"Neredia, dear?" My mom asked, "Are you sure you don't want your meat."
"Oh, I'm sorry." She apologized, "I am not familiar with this type of meat."
"It's beef," Lani spoke before my mom could get a word in, "You'll love it." Nereida picked up her utensils and glanced at Lani, who held up her fork and knife and began to cut her meat into pieces.
"So Nereida," my mom spoke again, "Your parents are nature photographers?"
"Yes, they take pictures of animals," Nereida responded.
"Okay, and you were homeschooled?"
"Yes."
The conversation went on like that for awhile and I was starting to get tired. "I am pretty sure Nereida is tired from her near death experience," I spoke, interrupting my mom.
"Oh, yes of course." Her face brightened, "You are all excused. Don't forget about school tomorrow." She directed the last part at Lani, knowing she would probably be up all night with Nereida.
"Can she come with us?" I asked, "I'm sure the principal will understand, she can shadow me." My mom sighed, looking between the two of us.
"How old are you?" She asked Nereida.
"I am sixteen years of age," Nereida answered, glancing at us after she said it.
"Very well, you can accompany Sawyer to school tomorrow." She replied.
I smiled as I saw Nereida's face light up. She was excited!
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