Ever since I was young, I've always been close to the ocean, never actually daring to go in. When I did, of course, it was only ankle deep before a crab pinched my toe and I ran out, crying into my father's arms.
But, on the night of my thirteenth birthday, I went in to my waist. A strong current pulled me under and out deeper, where my feet couldn't reach.
Nobody was around. Nobody could help me. I was going to die.
Just as I gave up on fighting the waves that crashed over me and sank into the cold, dark water, an arm wrapped around my waist, pulling me back up to the surface.
I came to on the beach, a mouth pressed against my own. This made me gasp and jump back, getting dizzy at the sudden movement.
A sharp pain roiled in my stomach and I rolled onto my hands and knees, salt water spewing out of my mouth and soaking the sand under me. Once the water and the pain was gone, I collapsed on the sand, looking at the person who'd saved me.
It was a boy who looked to be about my age, sitting back on his knees, watching me with a worried look on his face. He pushed his hair out of his face with his hand, raking it backwards on his head. "You okay?" He asked, tilting his head to the side.
"Yes. Thank you." I said weakly, trying to catch my breath. He smiled and looked out over the water.
"Ya know, if you fear it, it won't like you. You're stupid to be scared of it." He looked at me again and laughed softly. "But, to not be scared of it is stupid too." He looked back to the water, his face peaceful. "Crazy things out there."
I blinked at him, sitting up. He looked at me, his face pale in the light of the moon. "I can tell ya this. You really don't understand what kind of things are actually out there." He stood up and offered me his hand.
When I held my hand out to him, he pulled me to my feet, keeping me steady when I wobbled. His hands were so cold...
I studied him as he watched the water. His skin was a pale, milky white, his eyes an odd shade of blue that looked almost purple in hue. He was slightly taller than me and had arms lined with muscle.
He wore only a pair of shorts, his musclar torso exposed. He looked like a normal boy, if not more musclar. The only oddity I found was on the side of his neck.
Where his wet hair clumped to expose skin, I swear I saw... "Are...Are those gills?" I asked, not understanding what I was seeing.
"I'm Cronus." He said, seeming to ignore my question. I blinked, keeping my eyes on his possible gills as he looked at me.
"I'm Kankri. But a-are those gills?" I asked again, swallowing hard.
"I like you Kankri." Again, ignoring my question. "Here." He pulled something out of the pocket of his shorts. It was a necklace. A simple silver chain with a shell at the bottom of it.
He took my hand in his and put the necklace in my palm. Like his hand, it too was cold. I flipped it over to see there was a C carved into the shell, filled in with gold.
I gasped and turned it over. It was simple but beautiful. My face burnt as he leaned forward and pressed a soft kiss to my forehead before he backed away.
"Hold onto that." He smiled at me, walking backwards to the water. I walked with him, stopping on the sand where the water licked its way up to me.
Cronus was in the water, his head and shoulders the only thing I could see. "Don't forget today!" I heard him call to me before a wave smashed over him, pushing him under.
Panic swelled in my chest, but, when I looked closely, I saw him pop back up over a dozen feet away. Only for a second.
Only to wave at me.
I'm nearly seventeen now and I have yet to see Cronus again. I would say the whole thing was a dream, if not for the necklace I wear tucked under my shirt every day.
The chain had been big on me at first, the shell nearly reaching the center of my chest. But now it fit properly, the shell resting comfortably just below my collarbone.
I never told anyone about Cronus or the necklace, fearing they would call me crazy. But I think I know what Cronus is now.
Cronus is at least semi-amphibious. He was able to breathe water, that I was sure of now. But he was also able to breathe air up on the beach with me.
As I lay in bed, holding the shell, I feel it. I haven't seen that boy in almost four years and... I miss him.
I miss him a lot.