If there was one thing Wooyoung learned quickly, it was that Seonghwa was easily the worst person or creature he had ever encountered.

When he was finally given a chance to look around his new prison, he was mortified to see several smaller tanks containing other merfolk. He pounded on the glass in front of him and called out, but none of them reacted.

He recognized each of them... They had been part of the convoy picked to invite other pods to Mingi's coronation. Wooyoung had always assumed they had all died either by the strange human machine or by the sharks that came after.

The thought of them being trapped here this entire time made him sick... along with the fear of what had happened to them. Each one was thin and their scales were faded.

But why keep them here? What did this man want with them?

Wooyoung couldn't even begin to imagine the answer, but anything he thought of terrified him.

He didn't have to wait long before the 'show' began.

His captor came back and stood directly in front of where Wooyoung had chosen to sit in the coarse sand he was provided.

"You don't know how pleased I am to see you again, little merman." The man sneered and crossed his arms. "I'm sure you thought you had escaped and could go back home."

Wooyoung shrank into himself, pressing his back against the glass. He hated that there was no where for him to hide. He was stuck, on full display, in a place where he could barely move around.

"Not going to speak to me? I know you can, Hongjoong told me everything."

As if the name alone could summon him, Mr. Kim walked into the room staring down at some papers he held in his hands. "Sir, it's here."

"Excellent. Let's get started then." The man never took his eyes off Wooyoung as he spoke. "You are by far the best specimen I have found. I know you are the key."

Then he turned to Hongjoong and grabbed his jaw, tilting his head back to force him to make eye contact. "Are you ready, Precious? We are about to reach our ultimate goal."

"Yes, Sir."

"I think given what we have accomplished together, you can call me Seonghwa now, no?" The man's voice was silky smooth yet full of venom, just like some of the sea snakes that liked to hide in the coral around Aquatis.

"Yes, Si- S-Seonghwa." Hongjoong kept his eye contact, but Wooyoung didn't miss the way his throat bobbed, or how his hand shook at his side.

This Seonghwa terrified him.

So why was Hongjoong helping him?

Wooyoung's tail swished back and forth a couple of times as he tried to get comfortable. He would give anything to call on his magic to blast himself and his kin out of here, but unfortunately Seonghwa was doing a great job at keeping his magic intake just above minimum.

All he needed now was time. It would take so much longer for him to recharge like this, stuck in a tank with no access to natural magic, but he would get there.

That is, as long as he didn't have to go through what the aquarium had done to him.

His eyes fell to his tail. His beautiful, shining, purple and red tail. Was it going to be destroyed again?

He bent it and pulled part of it to his chest as if that would hide it from the evil, prying eyes of the man in front of him.

Who was now kissing Hongjoong in a way that looked like it hurt.

His hand was still squeezing the shorter's jaw, forcing him to stay in place, while his other one had snaked behind and was teasing the back of Hongjoong's pants.

Wooyoung instantly looked down at his tail again. His cheeks started to heat up.

There still wasn't much he knew about kissing and this... stuff... whatever San had called it, but he was pretty sure most humans didn't like to do it in front of others.

Although Seonghwa definitely wasn't like most people.

He pushed Hongjoong until his back was pressed against the wall, bringing forth a slight whimper, either of pain or fear... or both.

Wooyoung couldn't stand it. Every single part of his being told him that what he was seeing was wrong. The way Hongjoong was reacting was wrong.

So why was he letting it happen?

It didn't make any sense...

As things progressed further, Wooyoung turned over to face the wall. He had enough self control to be able to shut everything out, to the point where all he could hear was the water lazily lapping against the glass in time with the gentle swishing of his tail.

It allowed him to think of other things. The lake was the first thing that appeared before his eyes. He had been so happy there, with the magic, the water... San.

Wooyoung allowed himself to get lost in his memories. They kept him distracted and helped the time to pass.

Unfortunately it also meant he was distracted.

A cry of surprise escaped his lips when one of the metal claws dug into his tail and pulled him out of the water.

He twisted and failed, hoping to free himself, but the claw held fast.

"Struggling is pointless." Seonghwa's deep voice said.

The merman craned his head to see his captor standing in the corner with his hands clasped behind his back, watching him with a dark, terrifying gaze.

Once in the middle of the room, the crane released Wooyoung, dropping him onto the floor with a loud, wet, slap.

His tail flopped uselessly as he pushed his upper body off the floor with his arms to look at Seonghwa with a scowl.

The man chuckled. "So there is a spark in you. I'm glad to see it. Tell me, where does your magic come from? Why is it so much stronger than the others? Can all of you transform into humans?"

Wooyoung pressed his lips together in a thin line. There was no way he was going to answer any of Seonghwa's questions. He wasn't a fool.

"You'd be wise to cooperate. I am not a patient man when I don't get my way." Seonghwa moved to crouch in front of him, bracing his arms on his knees and tilting his head in a menacing manner. "Do. All. Of. You. Transform?"

There was no way he would reveal the secrets of his people. He could do that much at least. So when Seonghwa's hand shot out to grab his chin harshly, Wooyoung whimpered and shook his head.

"Why can you?"

Wooyoung bit his lip and tired to jerk his head away, but Seonghwa squeezed harder. The merman flicked his tail a little in agitation, although it didn't do anything to sway things.

"Speak."

Oh how Wooyoung wanted to sink his teeth into the man's fingers. He wasn't normally one to enjoy the taste of blood, but he had a feeling it would be worth it in this situation.

Suddenly Seonghwa took his hand away. Before Wooyoung had a chance to register what was happening, the human drew it back and swung his arm quickly, sending Wooyoung flailing to the side after making contact with his cheek.

The impact stung, leaving his skin a bright, angry red color.

Wooyoung brought his own hand up to cup it, sniffling a little. Is this... Is this how humans really treated each other...?

"I tried to warn you. If you don't want that to happen again, then you had better start talking to me." Seonghwa moved to stand in front of him, his aura filling the room with frightening vibes. With a smirk, he started to step on Wooyoung's other hand. "Well?"

Wooyoung couldn't help but cry out. His automatic reaction was to pull his hand back. That just made Seonghwa step harder.

"I can go all day, little merman." The deep voice sneered as his foot applied even more pressure.

If this kept going, Wooyoung feared his fingers would break.

He tried to think quickly, working out what would be ok to say and what wouldn't.

Then an idea popped into his head that he felt would be a sure fire way to protect his pod.

One more hard press had him crying out, "Alright!"

Seonghwa immediately lifted his foot, but only a little. He looked down his nose, anger and curiosity swirling around in his black eyes.

Wooyoung moved his hand from his cheek to his eyes. He still found it weird that water leaked from his eyes when he wasn't in water, but he couldn't focus on that now... He wiped his eyes and sniffed again. "My... My magic is different."

His eyes flicked to one of the other tanks. He saw the mermaid in it peer up at him through her eyelashes. There wasn't any way for him to give the others a sign, so he hoped they would go along with anything he said.

It would be the difference between life and death...

"Different how?" Seonghwa asked. His foot twitched, threatening to crush Wooyoung's fingers again.

For a moment, Wooyoung wanted to hesitate again. The thought of revealing any amount of secrets made him sick. Instead, he tilted his head back to make eye contact with his captor. "I'll tell you, but you need to let them go."

A deep, hearty laugh had Seonghwa tipping his head back and wrapping one arm around his stomach.

"Let them go, and never look for any others. I'll give you anything." Wooyoung pleaded.

From the wall, Hongjoong moved to stand a little straighter. The motion drew Wooyoung's attention and he noticed the conflicting emotions dancing over Hongjoong's face. Their eyes met and Wooyoung could have sworn he saw the human shake and bow his head a little.

Meanwhile Seonghwa removed his foot and crouched in front of Wooyoung once more. "Those are dangerous words." He spoke quietly, menacingly. "Are you sure you want to make that kind of promise?"

Wooyoung knew he was about to sign his own death sentence. Each syllable had sliced a new chunk from his heart, ripping it to shreds and sealing away the pieces.

"Yes. But you can't... you can't hurt anyone else."

"Tell me what I want to know first, then we shall see."

There was only one thing Wooyoung could think of that was sure to appease the man. He bowed his head in defeat. "It's different because... because I have royal blood. I am the crown prince."

An eerie silence fell like a thick layer of moss over the room. It was only broken by the bubbles coming from the tanks. Wooyoung hardly dared to even breathe. He was taking a huge risk by saying that... but he needed something substantial to keep Seonghwa's attention. Maybe if he believed that Wooyoung was royalty, he would feel that Wooyoung would be the only thing he needed for whatever he was planning.

"Hongjoong." Seonghwa said with the same, cold tone. The shorter stepped forward without hesitation, eyeing Seonghwa nervously. "See to it that our other visitors are returned safely to the ocean. Don't draw attention to yourself. Document everything. We wouldn't want our prized guest to think we didn't uphold our end of the bargain."

"Yes, Sir." Hongjoong bowed low. In the blink of an eye, he had other men and women rushing in. They all worked quickly to get the small tanks lifted onto a portable platform that they could push out with ease.

Each one of his kin all turned to look at him as they passed. And each one placed a had on the tank, trying to reach out for him.

He felt their pain, their longing, but most of all, their thanks.

Wooyoung had just saved their lives. As long as they made it back to the ocean, they would heal up and be just fine.

He couldn't say the same for himself though. This must be a new habit of his... sacrificing himself. First San, Yeosang and Jongho... now his fellow pod members.

It made him feel a little better knowing he had protected all of them. He told himself he needed to hang onto that thought in the days to come.

"Tell me, Precious, what is your name?" Seonghwa purred, now gently cupping Wooyoung's chin after releasing his fingers.

With a forceful swallow, Wooyoung's tongue darted out to lick his lips before speaking. "Wooyoung." The weight of his own name felt like the final stone needed to send him plummeting to the bottom of the ocean.

There was no turning back now.