Yaya's POV - Alternate timeline

"Are you awake?" A masculine voice came from my right.

"Do I look asleep?" I replied, my head too heavy to move. My useless eyes told me nothing, as always, leaving me in the dark. I didn't sense anyone, and yet, the voice was too close. The air was thick and reeked of mold and blood—I got used to it, but I hated it all the same.

"I just wanted to make sure. It's been three days since you last moved."

I had no strength left, so what was the point of moving?

Our conversation was interrupted by the sound of footsteps and cries of terror. The door opened, and two presences entered.

One of them broke the chains around my wrists and scooped me up in his arms, holding me close to his chest. "Who were you talking to?" he asked, his voice deep and raspy.

"Yaya," I muttered.

He paused, and I felt the person beside him stiffen. I couldn't see him, of course ─ I couldn't see anything ─ but you don't need eyes to notice some things.

"Your imaginary friend?" The deep voice was calm and steady, but the tension in his muscles told a different story.

I nodded.

He carefully stroked my hair as we passed by piles of dying bodies, "As long as you are aware that they don't exist. What did you two talk about?"

"Stuff."

"Like?"

"Secret stuff."

"Hmm...you don't want to share your secret with me, your soulmate?"

"You suck," I muttered.

"Excuse me?"

"You. Suck."

He sighed, "You escaped by yourself and left me behind. Now, you are upset that I saved you?"

"Yes."

"..." His hold on me tightened as we entered his carriage, "No matter how much I want you to be mine and mine alone, I will never hold you prisoner. I accepted your decision to leave. And even though it killed me inside, I did it for you. And then I found out that someone had abducted you..."

"I wouldn't mind being held prisoner by a person I loved, and if I ever escaped, it would only be to come back to them," I said, stopping him from blabbering more nonsense.

"..." He was quiet for a moment, but then he pulled me even closer, "What will make you love me, then?"

"Isn't loving a person enough? Why do you need to have it reciprocated? Love is something a person should offer, not demand. So when they betray you, you won't suffer. When they break you, you won't get angry. When they take advantage of you, you won't cry. Because, at the end of the day, you gave everything to them freely."

"Sounds like a miserable way of loving."

"That's why only the strong and the brave can pull it off." I shrugged, further irritating him with how he didn't "love" me enough right after he confessed and showed how much I meant to him.

Just when I thought he would throw me out of the carriage, I found the back of my head being pressed, his lips crashing against mine.

My stomach churned, and a sudden nausea overwhelmed me. I pushed him away, emptying my stomach, and dry-heaved for a good minute. I felt my body shaking, my legs unable to support me, and my lungs refusing to breathe.

A hand gripped my chin, pouring water into my mouth, washing away the vile taste. I shook my head, coughing as I gasped for air.

"Is your imaginary friend saying anything now?" he asked, his lips pressing against mine. "What about now? Where's their voice coming from? Here?" he traced his fingers along my neck, "If you are in need of company, you can always seek mine. Why bother with imaginary friends? I'm right here."

I began screaming like a lunatic when I felt a sharp pain cutting into the side of my head, his fingers digging into my skull.

Where was the voice when I needed it the most? It only showed up when there was enough noise to drown him out, like those screams of terrors outside the cell. Like now.

"It's not forever, Yaya. We will get through this."

The voice tried to comfort me, but the crazy curses coming out of his mouth afterward were more like the ramblings of a madman.

We screamed and yelled together until our voices went hoarse. He seemed to be in the same pain as me, and I wondered if the pain would eventually drive us both insane.

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Current time...

Karrak's contact lens in my right eye showed me what he saw. Me, blind and unable to move.

Chunks of my life were missing, and I wanted to remember anything that had Karrak in it. But the more I saw, the more I wished I didn't.

Like Vick, my father tolerated Karrak until I developed feelings for him, and then he decided that I had enough fun and tried to dispose of him.

Karrak was forced to return in time and wipe his existence from my life. Cliche as it sounded, the more he stayed with me, the more damage I'd suffer. Whenever he decided to return to my life, I would forget him right after.

Our kind's actions were based on results, not morals. We could feel, but our emotions were more like an afterthought. Mistakes were a learning experience. Love was nice, but it was a bonus, not the end goal.

We were not driven by the desire for power and glory or the lust to satisfy our desires. We were born without these shackles, and thus, we were freer than others. What drove us was the will to create and explore.

Father became obsessed with this soulmate business for a period, and I wasn't spared either. If our brain wasn't the source of our being, then where did our "us" come from? Not the diseases that took over the brain, not the chemicals that controlled it, not the environment, or the genes, but our core essence?

It soothed me a bit that no matter what tactics father used, he would always fail to make me view him as an attractive partner. At least my tastes weren't a total failure. For once, I could actually pat myself on the back and say, "Way to go, standards." He knew why he didn't shove memories of that period into my skull. I would have rubbed his shameful failure in his face and gloated until his ears bled.

With a slight shift of my irises, the contact lens powered down, its glow fading instantly. The world softened, and I let out a quiet breath. I strolled down the dimly lit cave, following my handsome light bulb and grumpy bug.

Mitchell didn't even glance my way and continued venting to Gold. "I didn't claw my way past the four stripes stage so that she could kidnap me whenever she feels like it. Why is she doing it to me and no one else?" He bragged about how many times I abducted him from Flame City by teleporting him to my side, and then he proceeded to complain about the same thing, "Does she miss me that much?"

Gold ignored his endless chattering and kept walking forward, his back ramrod straight, and his face a mask.

My familiar followed next to me, her gaze fixed ahead. Her hands were bound behind her back, and her posture was high. She was a part of me; her will was mine, and her actions were my choices. Her calling me master was the equivalent of her calling herself master.

It didn't have any significance besides putting up a facade for the body she occupied. Chris's body was below mine, so naturally, its status was below mine as well.

I've been waiting for Chris's brain to regain control over the body so I could retrieve my familiar or at least put it on standby mode, but there was no sign of that.

I caught Mitchell's wrist, halting his movements, and pulled him back. "Are you not happy to see me? Tired of me already? Did you find someone better?"

"..." Mitchell's eyes widened, and he tried to free his hand, but the more he pulled, the harder my hold got.

"Don't ignore me." I yanked him closer and crashed my lips against his, sucking his tongue out of his mouth.

His hands shot to my shoulders, his fingers digging into the fabric, "Mmm." His lips moved along with me, his tongue twisting around mine.

My hand snuck up to his face, pulling his left eyelid up. A single, golden eyeball stared at me. He choked and pulled away, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand, "What are you doing?!"

I turned his head sideways and pressed a kiss on his cheek, "I'm nervous, so give me some love, will you?"

"It's just a meeting with my father," he said, holding my hand and taking the lead, "Didn't you kidnap him? You must have talked with him before."

"I wanted you to introduce me to him," I said, smiling at his profile. He grew taller and broader. The features of his face hardened, giving him a mature, more masculine look, "He's your father. It's important to have his approval," I replied, playing dumb.

He looked at me over his shoulders, his golden eyes narrowing, "Since when do you care about what others think?"

"Since I got a male who isn't an orphan."

"..." Mitchell poked my forehead, his expression turning sour, "It's not like it'll change anything between us."

I nodded, smiling, "How did I manage to charm the mighty lord of the Flame City?"

He shrugged, brushing a quick kiss on my lips before carrying on. "A mystery to all."

Gold shook his head as he tried to grab my free hand, but Mitchell shot him a cold glare, releasing his beast aura.

It took us by surprise, and for a moment, the three of us stopped.

Mitchell looked at us, who seemed taken aback by his beast aura. He quickly pushed the hand he was holding in Gold's direction. His reaction was fast, but it was too late. I had already seen it.

"..." Gold didn't accept my hand. Instead, he went ahead to check on the mermaids and left me in Mitchell's care, thinking he needed some alone time with me after the long absence. I wanted to tag along, but my company around the girls wasn't appreciated.

We had a bad influence on each other, apparently. Sometimes, I would visit their spring house to have some fun (with my mask on at all times). We would play dress up, sing and dance, and then cry our hearts out when it was time to depart. I would join the choir and hold onto the pillars until our males would come and peel us off, and then we would proceed to cry some more.

Gold became the males' role model for strictness and discipline, and he would scold anyone, including me, for any sort of misbehavior. If the mermaids still found him hot, then it shouldn't be a problem if they saw their males' mean faces once in a while, right?

· · ───────── · ⊱❈⊰· ───────── · ·

The undersea palace was grand, with many wide passages leading to various parts of the structure. The colors and patterns on the walls and the floors were vibrant, and the ceiling was decorated with mosaics made out of seashells that reflected the light from the luminescent corals and pearls.

"Chrissy?" An eerie voice echoed down the hall. The thick air seemed to grow even thicker, and the temperature dropped. "Chrissy!" The voice rang again, louder and more menacing, "You are finally back!"

Chris cringed before putting on a loving face. "You don't have to shout. I can hear you just fine, Honey," she said and ran into the darkness.

A man with the aura of death emerged from the shadows, "Where have you been for so long?"

"Working hard for our future," Chris said, hugging his waist and burying her face into his chest. "I missed you so much, Honey. Did you miss me?"

"I always miss you, Chrissy." He returned the hug, carefully and gently, as if scared of hurting her.

He was as tall as Mitchell, with his hair being a shade darker than his son's. His two sets of eyes were pitch black, with red pupils floating inside. His presence was terrifying, but he had a soft smile plastered on his face, which made him look kind of cute.

The father and son looked nothing alike except their pointy teeth, making me wonder if the rootless lion cub would have some unique features as well.

"I missed you more," Chris mumbled, her body melting in St. Zachary's embrace.

Neither I nor the familiar liked to play this role, but what wouldn't we do for the sake of our lovebug?

"Mitchell? Why are you here?" St. Zachary looked up, completely missing my existence. My height was back to normal, so he probably mistook me for Gold's underling.

Gold gave Zachary a slight nod before passing through to check on the mermaids while Mitchell and I followed Chris and Zachary toward their living quarters.

"Gold said it was you who brought me and your mother here and asked him to get us settled, handle our meals, and make sure we're comfortable," said Zachary, causing Mitchell to choke. "Is it true? You wanted to give us a little vacation gift?"

Mitchell coughed into his fist before facing his father, "You can't blame me, father. The environment in the Flame City wasn't good for mother nor any female for that matter. I built a good relationship with the merfolks and brought you here for a change of environment. They needed someone to protect their females, and I needed them to give you and mother a good time. If you are not satisfied, then you can bring it up with mother, not me."

"They were kind enough to take us to the beautiful islands and treated us like honored guests." Chris wiped away an invisible tear from the corner of her eye before smiling warmly at her partner. "You raised our son to be such a good, sensible male. I couldn't be prouder, Honey."

"..." St. Zachary narrowed his eyes at Mitchell, a dangerous aura radiating from his being before a slight blush appeared on his cheeks, and his attention switched back to Chris.

We entered Chris' and St. Zachary's living quarters and sat on the cushions surrounding a round table. The room was much lighter and cozier inside, and the decorations and furniture reflected the luxurious style of the merfolks.

St. Zachary was a quiet, patient, and obedient guy in her presence and complimented her whenever she took a breath. I would have zipped his lips shut if he was mine, and I could sense the irritation rolling off of my familiar, who was forced to endure him as well.

Did he not notice that it was not Chrissy, but her look-alike sitting beside him? What did I expect from a guy, who only wanted his female to retain good emotions? Well, as long as Mitchell was happy, that's all that mattered.

Instead of introducing me to his parents, Mitchell avoided me like a plague, not even sparing me a glance. He engaged his parents in small talk while I sat quietly by the side, listening in. He hadn't seen his parents for years because of me and needed to catch up, so I let him be and watched them bond.