Marina POV

I can't believe it has been a week since I arrived here in Atlantis. It seemed like an eternity. It was hard at first, without television, the internet, a phone, and other forms of technology. It was also difficult not having any communication with my family and friends.

Trystan was my only source of human contact.

During my time here, Trystan showed me more of the palace library. The library had many scrolls written during his time as king and the time of his forefathers. I would try to read and make sense of the Atlantean language. At first, I could not read the words since the words were ancient, but Trystan would use some of his magic to translate the words into English.

Many of the scrolls were stories; of romance and tragedy. The stories were very well written.

I asked Trystan to teach me how to read the Atlantean language, and he did.

It was a challenging language, but I learned some sentences and words little by little.

Whenever I was with the annoying king, I would see him smile even more. I thought it was cute. I guessed he hardly smiled since he had lived alone for a long time. It must have been torture to live in this palace daily, never seeing the sun or breathing the air many take for granted.

He was a lonely man.

I was getting tired just staying in this palace for an entire week. I wanted to go home, but a part of me did not want to leave.

Strange.

Was it because of Trystan?

I felt like not leaving him alone. He seemed at ease whenever he spoke to me. I shook my head! What am I thinking!? Why am I concerned about him!?

I did feel bad for him.

Today I was in the garden room; there were many flowers that I had not seen.

Trystan planted them by hand but used magic to keep them alive. The flowers were probably a reminder of his previous life. I looked and touched many flowers admiring their beauty. I could never take one; they were too precious to take.

I felt a hand on my shoulder; I looked up; it was Trystan.

"Enjoying the gardens?"

I looked away as I nodded. I couldn't look him in the face. I felt nervous when I did. Sure, he was good-looking, but I had seen and met other good-looking guys.

With Trystan, it was different. The way he looked and acted toward me made me shy. "Yes, very beautiful. The flowers are vibrant."

The king looked at his gardens. I glanced at him, his lips formed a smile, but when I looked at his eyes, I saw a hint of sadness.

"Do you come here often?"

He shook his head. "Not as much."

I gave out a small chuckle. "I am a bit surprised. You have lived in this palace for so long and don't visit this garden often."

"True, but I sometimes do not like visiting certain parts of my kingdom."

I gave out a little sigh and got up on my feet. I turned and looked at Trystan. "Look, you got to stop feeling sorry for yourself. What happened to your people and kingdom was terrible, but you need to accept what happened and move on."

Trystan walked by her while looking at the flowers. "Move on? I have moved on for many centuries. Do you think that I have not tried? Do you believe it is simple to forget everything I have gone through and what I caused?" He let out a sigh. "It is something you can never comprehend."

I noticed his frustration. I did not want to make it worse. "You are right. I can never understand the pain you felt for many years. When you were king, did you ever think of the consequences of your actions?"

"Never." His expression turned a bit sad.

"You should have stopped thinking about your actions when you were king. It took the death and destruction of many people and civilizations to change your perception. However, you were not the only one at fault. You said that Zeus and Poseidon destroyed Atlantis, which is still hard for me to believe. If that is the case, they had the fault of being heartless and prideful."

Trystan turned and faced me with an amused look. "Understandable. If I were in your situation, I would not believe in the existence of Zeus and the other gods that people do not worship as much anymore. Serves them right." He gave a slight chuckle. "However, I will not deny that I would not have changed if Zeus and Poseidon did not destroy my kingdom. Cruel as it sounds."

"I got to admit that I admire your brutal honesty. You tend to speak your mind, no matter how honest and cruel it may sound."

He gave out a little laugh. "Well, when I was mortal, I sometimes lied to get what I wanted. Now that I am immortal, there is no point in keeping the truth locked up. To tell you the truth, I like to see how you will react."

We both laughed.

He had a sense of humor, something else I admired about him.

I wanted to know about the guy, but I felt we both needed to get out of this palace and stretch out a bit. I gathered my courage to ask him this very question. "Um, Trystan, I wanted to ask you something."

He gave me his attention. "What is it?"

"I-Is there a possibility that we can get fresh air. I feel like going outside."

Trystan was a bit surprised. "Outside? How? Remember, I cannot go to the outside world."

"What I meant was swimming in the ocean. I want to explore the ocean creatures. I can swim and hold my breath for an hour!" 

He gave out a laugh. "Impressive, but you are at a low level of the ocean. Once you hit the water, the pressure will crush your lungs and insides."

"Oh, that bad. Damn it." I gave out a slight pout.

Trystan gave out a small chuckle. "I can use magic on you. It can change you into what you humans call a mermaid."

I gleaned. "Really!? How perfect! I always wanted to swim like a mermaid!" I felt that I was living the dream.

"However, you will only have one hour; we must return."

I was a bit confused, only an hour. "Why just an hour?"

"Just an hour." He did not answer or look at me as he told me that. I glanced at him. Was he afraid that I would try to leave? Possibly. I am the first contact he has had since his downfall. If I were in his position, I would try to keep the first person I ever had contact with. He extended his hand to me. "Come on, let's go to the ocean." He got a hold of my left hand, and we both got out of the gardens and went straight to the palace's exit.