"You..." Luke began before quickly correcting himself. "Who are you?"

The revised question sounded far less suspicious.

The woman regarded him coolly.

"I am Synthia. A mermaid."

Her voice was calm, but there was a faint chill to it, as though she had taken slight offense at his initial hesitation.

Luke couldn’t help but stare.

Mermaids belonged to fairy tales, animated films, and the occasional cosplay he demanded from his girlfriends. Seeing an actual one in front of him was surreal.

Her beauty felt almost otherworldly.

What surprised him most was that, for perhaps the first time in his life, he wasn’t distracted by the fact that she was naked, her perky bust full on sight.

Instead, his attention remained fixed on her face.

It was elegant and luminous, as though moonlight itself had taken human form.

"Why do you keep freezing up?" Synthia asked. "Is this your first time seeing a mermaid?"

Luke let out a small sigh.

"You could say that."

Then his curiosity returned.

"But tell me something. Do you see people like me often down here?"

Synthia shook her head.

"You look like a strange human," she replied. "But I possess enough manners not to stare."

Luke laughed.

"Fair enough."

He raised both hands in surrender.

"Alright. No more freezing up."

The mermaid hummed softly before asking,

"Did you stumble upon this place by accident?"

Luke nodded.

"Yeah. Do you live here?"

For the first time, her expression shifted.

She turned away and sat at the edge of the pond, presenting him with the graceful curve of her back.

"I live here now..." she said quietly. "But my home is far away."

The words carried a loneliness that made Luke pause.

A faint longing lingered beneath her calm tone.

"I ended up here by accident," she continued. "Somewhere in the middle of the forest."

Luke’s interest deepened.

"Then why not leave?" he asked. "And where exactly is your home?"

Synthia lowered her gaze toward the water.

After a few moments, she shook her head.

"I don’t know how to get out."

Her reflection trembled slightly on the pond’s surface.

"And I can’t survive outside the water long enough to search for my home."

Luke blinked.

The statement caught him completely off guard.

Not because she couldn’t remain on land.

That much was expected.

What shocked him was the geography.

The nearest major body of water he had seen on the map was the ocean.

And even that was nearly ten kilometers away from this place.

His eyes narrowed.

If that was true...

Then how had a mermaid ended up trapped in an underground pond hidden beneath a forest?

The question got his head spiralling into thoughts.

Because he couldn’t think of a single normal answer.

"Is there no underwater stream that leads back to your home?" Luke asked, trying to make sense of the situation.

Synthia slowly shook her head.

"When I swim deeper, I find only darkness." Her gaze remained fixed on the still water. "No passages. No currents. Nothing that leads me home... to my Pinathalon."

Her voice trembled on the final word.

Luke frowned.

"Is that a person? Someone from your family?"

She nodded.

"He is my mate."

A faint smile appeared on her lips before quickly fading.

"My only family."

Luke released a slow breath.

Without saying anything, he crouched down beside her.

Only now did he notice the large tears rolling down her cheeks.

One after another.

The sight tugged at something deep within him.

Carefully, he reached out and wiped away the tears with his thumb.

Synthia flinched at the unexpected contact.

For a moment, Luke thought she might pull away.

Instead, she remained still.

If anything, she leaned slightly into his touch.

Her eyes slowly closed.

"It’s been so long..." she whispered.

"So long since I felt the warmth of another person."

The loneliness in her voice was enough to make Luke’s chest tighten.

No matter how resilient someone was, isolation could wear down anyone eventually.

"How long have you been trapped here?" he asked gently.

"I..." Synthia hesitated. "I don’t remember exactly."

She glanced down at her tail.

"But it feels larger than before."

After a brief pause, she added,

"Perhaps four or five full moons."

Luke’s eyes widened slightly.

A full moon came once every month.

That meant she had been trapped here for nearly half a year.

No wonder her emotions were so fragile.

Half a year.

Alone.

In a dark underground cavern with nothing but silence and still water for company.

Most people would have broken long before then.

Luke stared at the pond and imagined enduring such isolation himself.

The thought alone was suffocating.

When he looked back at Synthia, the sight of her leaning subtly into the warmth of his hand felt far less surprising.

After spending months without a single companion, even the smallest act of kindness must have felt precious.

After a few moments, Synthia finally regained her composure.

She wiped the lingering moisture from her eyes before turning toward him.

"What is your name?" she asked. "And why are you here?"

"I am Luke."

He glanced around the cavern before continuing.

"And as you already guessed, I stumbled upon this place through pure luck. Though now..." A smile tugged at the corner of his lips. "I’m very invested in what I’ve discovered."

A faint blush appeared on Synthia’s cheeks.

She leaned back slightly and narrowed her eyes.

"What exactly do you mean by that?"

Luke stared at her for a second before letting out a laugh.

"Really, woman?"

He shook his head.

"I wasn’t talking only about you."

The blush on her face deepened.

Luke pointed toward the surrounding cavern.

"Sure, finding a mermaid was shocking enough, but everything else here is just as strange."

His gaze swept across the underground world.

The vibrant flowers.

The glowing moss.

The unnaturally still pond.

And now a mermaid stranded beneath the earth.

There wasn’t a single ordinary thing about this place.

"From the moment I arrived, this whole cavern has felt wrong in the most fascinating way possible."

Synthia listened quietly.

Then she lowered her eyes toward the water.

"You seem very certain that this place is special... unnatural."

Her gaze drifted to her own reflection.

After a brief pause, she added,

"I suppose it is."

Luke looked at her curiously.

Synthia raised one hand and watched droplets slide from her fingers.

"I have survived for days without eating."

Her voice was calm, yet even she sounded puzzled by the fact.

"And despite that, I feel no weakness."

She clenched her hand slowly.

"My strength remains exactly the same."

Luke’s expression gradually became serious. 𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖

That wasn’t normal.

Not for any species. Food was a necessity no one could escape.

The realization sent his thoughts racing.

Whatever was sustaining the plants here...

Whatever had transformed this cavern into something impossible...

It might also be sustaining the mermaid.

His gaze traveled down at the water.

So...this was it.

There was something strange about this water after all.

The temptation to take a dip and check it himself arose suddenly.

•••••••

A/N:- I hope you liked the Chapter. Please let me know in the comments how many of you didn’t get the discord link.