He looked down on the cerulean sea; all was well. The seals were playing upon on the rocks, the finned creatures stirred beneath the waters, gulls were giving their try at the fish below.

“Louis, stop staring at the fish!”

Louis looked to the other angel. His face hadn’t a single wrinkle-except those from a grimace- and his white tunic gleamed in the sunlight. Louis closed his eyes and sighed.

“Yes, Merlarn.”

“Now, keep your eyes open. There was supposed to be a little girl drowning around here somewhere...”

Louis ran a hand through his honey toned curls, a dash of silver dust brushing off his hair and into the depths below.

“Focus,” he whispered to himself. “It’s bad enough you let that family’s cat die in the fire, but this is a person, a whole new level…Merlarn, can I swerve down a little lower?”

He grunted. “Alright, but as long as you don’t get distracted down there…”

Louis brought his snowy wings closer to himself, bringing himself several meters closer to the water. If he came down a little lower, he could almost touch it…

“La la la la la…”

Louis flinched as a haunting melody entered his ears.

“La la la la la…”

It flooded his mind now, filling it with a most pleasant sensation. Not even the seraphim in Heaven could sing like that…
“What is that…?”

“La la la…la.”

Louis stopped moving forwards, and brought himself upright.

I must find the source of this…music. No, music was an ugly word for such a sound. That melody...

He turned to his left and he turned to his right. But there was not a thing or a person in sight-unless you included the gulls-

“Louis, what are you doing?”

Louis looked up. “I heard something, it’s important.”

Merlarn tensed his jaw. “Fine... but if you find her blow the horn and I’ll come.”

He nodded and searched further. He tried to remember the source of the melody. It was not from the waters, it was not from above; it was not from the shallow cave on the side of the cliff.

“Where could it be?” He growled.

He heard a soft chuckle below him.

“From right here.”

He looked straight below him. There, was the oddest creature he had ever seen; the torso was like that of a woman, but the other half was a fish’s tail.
Louis was astonished; was he dreaming?
Was this thing real, or another trick of Lucifer’s? He leaned down, until he was inches away from its face.

“What are you?”

She giggled and kissed him on the lips lightly before diving under, splashing Louis.

“Wait, come back,” he called out. “I want to talk to you!”

For a few moments there was silence. She resurfaced by a large rock ten strides away. She dragged herself onto the rock, and flipped her dripping hair from her face, little droplets flying in all directions.

“Me? Why I’m just a mermaid! Or at least that’s what your kind; along with the two-tails call it.”

Louis blinked and swallowed.

“Well, how is it The Almighty One never told us about your kind? We were told of all creation.”

The mermaid fiddled with a long strand of her charcoal colored hair.

“Maybe it’s because he was afraid you bird people would get jealous. Or something like that.”
She shrugged. “I honestly don’t know.”

Louis looked down at her tail. It was scaly like all fish tails are, but it was so much lovelier. It was deeper in blue than the ocean, and shimmered in the sunlight just as brightly as his wings and hair. It was long and almost spiraling, like a long thick strands of confetti.

“May I touch it?”

She giggled, bringing a dainty hand to her mouth as she did.

“Sure, as long as that’s all you’re touching, bud.”

He ran a tanned hand across her tail. It wasn’t slimy, much to his surprise. It was smooth yet ridged –most likely from the scales- a truly inexplicable feel. His mind was lost for a moment, and recoiled when his fingertips touched it.
Louis blinked, unsure of what to say.

“Erm ...it’s a very nice tail.”

She grinned sheepishly, fidgeting like a small child.

“Thanks. Those feather arms you got on your back aren’t so bad either.”

His bit the inside of his cheek and flinched, glaring at her slightly. “They’re called wings.”

“I know. But doesn’t feather arms make so much more sense?”

He shrugged “I guess...”

It was silent for a moment, as he thought of what to say.

“Erm..”

She cocked her head quizzically, her bright blue eyes twinkling.

“What?”

Louis scratched the back of his head.
“It’s just that…I’ve never met someone like you. What’s your name?”

“In my language, it would be rather hard for you to pronounce. But you can call me Aylia.”

“Aylia...” The name rolled of his tongue sending waves of warmth throughout his body. Not a single name in the world had ever done that to him before.
Why did that happen? Why is she so different? Why didn’t He ever tell us of her kind? Why is-

“So what’s your name, sweet cheeks?”

He flinched, disturbed form his intense brainstorming.

“Oh, I erm um...Oh! My name’s Louis.”

She chuckled. “It’s very nice to meet ‘cha Lou.”

Another thought popped into his mind and he burst out,
“What is it like down there!?”

She lifted a thin eyebrow. “Down where?”

He looked down and pointed to the water. “Down there!”

She smiled a little, batting her lashes. “Would you like me to show you?”

He thought for a moment. What was the worst that could happen from a little swim?
He nodded. “Yes.”

She laughed musically. “Then here we go!”
She grabbed his arm and dove headfirst into the water, dragging poor Louis along with her.
“No, wai-!!“
It was too late. They were already down under. She cupped his face in her hands, kissing him lightly. His vision cleared, and sounds from above and below became audible. He blushed, smiling embarrassedly.

“Thanks.”

“No problem sweet cheeks.”

Just as Louis was in mid-blink, he heard a thundering yell from somewhere.

“Louis... Louis!”

He looked up, but he saw nothing out of the ordinary.

“Louis!”
He looked to Aylia, who was even more befuddled than himself. Then he remembered. He reached into his tunic pocket and pulled out a topaz orb on a bronze chain.

“Louis, I found the girl, where are you?”

“Um. . .”

“Lou, where are you at?”

He looked around from the orb, and his face began to turn red. It was never a good thing when his face changed colors.

“You went under the water didn’t you?”

Aylia stared at the orb with a childlike wonder, her porcelain skin reflecting the golden light.

“Why does it matter?” Louis sneered, distorting his face as he glared at the orb.

Merlarn growled. “Because if you did, you won’t be an angel anymore. You’ll… change.”

Louis’s eyes widened as a sharp pain erupted in his back. He groaned, and Aylia cried out.
“Louis!”

~___~

“Mmmhmm…”

He stirred, and light flooded his eyes. He squinted until they adjusted, and fully opened them. It was the inside of an underwater cave, filled with all sorts of various objects from the land.

“Louis?”

A beautiful pale face with sky blue eyes peered over him. Her waist long hair was in her face, but she didn’t mind. Her face was contorted with concern, worry, and perhaps something else.

“Do you feel ok?”

Louis blinked. “I don’t know…I don’t feel bad but I feel different.”

“You look different hon, and it was reeallly weird to watch.”

He blinked. “What do you mean?”

She smiled, almost sadly. “Look down.”

He sat up from the rock he was laying on. His tunic was gone, and in the place of his legs there was a tail, a tail as green as an emerald. A tail just like Aylia’s. His eyes widened, and mouth agape.

“No… no this isn’t happening… I’m dreaming… this is a prank of Merlarn’s to teach me a lesson,” He gnashed his teeth, as his voice grew more frantic. “This is a dream, a joke, an impossibility. This, this isn’t real!”

Aylia placed a hand on his shoulder, and ran it on the spot where his left wing should have been. “Louis…this is real. I’m sorry, I didn’t know this would happen…but…”

“But what?”

“A part of me can’t help but be a little happy. It’s lonely around here. There are no other mermaids. I don’t even know how I was made. And...”

He blinked. “And…?”

She took in a deep breath. “And…I think I love you.”

His eyes widened, and jaw somewhat agape. He had heard humans say it so many times, and even his fellow angels say it, with no understandable meaning… but he could feel a warmth deep inside him, a warmth unlike any other. Only when in the presence of The Almighty One had he ever felt anything like this.

“Aylia…I don’t know what I feel, but whatever I happen to feel for you is different, unlike anything I’ve ever felt before. It’s a warm feeling and good… and since I’m stuck down here like this… He hesitated. “Will you stay with me?”

She cupped his face in her hands, and kissed him. It was different from the other kisses they had shared, deeper and longer. She broke off and smiled.

“Of course.”