She stared in shock as her eyes met the carnage of ships dashed upon the rocks, the corpses of their crew draped and scattered across them. Nyidia had only been gone for a few years. When she had left her seas had been a happy, peaceful, beautiful place, her people just the same; but this, this was positively barbaric!

Nyidia turned her head sharply as a sound of a pained groan broke the silence. The man, battered and bloody, looked upon Nyidia and his eyes filled up with rage and burning hatred and prejudice. "Do… ugh… Do you see?!" he spat out, his pain evident in his voice. "Do you see what your kind has done to me; to my people!? Are you quite satisfied now, you little BITCH!?" Nyidia's eyes filled up with tears. Of course he was angry, he had every right to be. This knowledge was a pain in her heart. "I… I didn't…" She froze as she saw his limp body slip into the water. She dived down after him. Not another one; she would not let another landey die now that she was here again!

*Arthur's POV*

The water was cold, then again perhaps it wasn't. He was so far gone now he could no longer trust his judgment of hot and cold.

So this was death, huh? It wasn't at all what he'd thought it would be. He'd always thought would be much more dramatic, or at least painful. No, the pain had been gone for a while now, and had left him with this kind of numbness in all parts of his body. In fact, it actually felt quite good. His body felt lighter than it had ever been, his head was clear, he felt no fear nor any other emotion; it was wonderful.

Time seemed to slow and almost stop as he drifted downward into the dark abyss of the sea, giving himself plenty of time to reflect. He thought of that siren most. Perhaps he had been too harsh of the child. After all, that was just how the world works, and she didn't seem at all as monstrous as the other sirens who had attacked them. Had she been among them? It had all happened so fast he doubted he could've identified any of them, not that it mattered much now. Still he was sad that at the end of his life, which had been filled with hatred, his last words had been brimming with the exact same thing. He reflected the pain that had been in her eyes. He suddenly wished could go back in time to that moment. If he could have done that, he would've done it differently. He would've smiled for her and put on a brave face to make her think he wasn't in pain. He would've told her it was alright, and that she had done nothing wrong and what she had done was all in the past and forgiven. But no, he took that hateful front of his to the grave with him.

'One more chance…' he prayed silently. 'Oh, please, if there is a God out there, just grant me one more chance to make it right…'

And with that he blacked out, his last sight being that of a silhouette racing towards him.

*Back to Nyidia's POV*

Nyidia frantically shook the tattered blonde man. "Oh, please! Please, please, please don't do this to me! No, no, no, no!" Still he would not breathe. Nyidia felt tears stream down her face, a rare experience for a nyad, as they were almost always under water. The pain her throat was almost unbearable. She put her ear to his chest; nothing. "No…" she whispered before burying her head in his chest and screaming out in a desperate plea. "PLEASE, GOD, DON'T DO THIS! I'LL GIVE UP ANYTHING; ANYTHING AT ALL! JUST NAME IT!" She rubbed her tearful face into the once-wounded man's chest with a mantra of begs on her lips.

BA-DUMP

BA-DUMP

Nyidia froze. Could it be? Another set of thumps from his chest were heard and Nyidia's tears increased; he was alive! Thank goodness! Nyidia jumped as she felt a large hand reach up and stroke her head. Not only was he alive, but he was awake! The nyad people had always kept solitary to anything save for each other, and in doing so had avoided war for centuries. No nyad had ever been this close to a landey.

"Shhhhh…hush now…" Nyidia was shocked at the comfort he was bestowing on her. Her elder sister, Sirenie, had always assured her that his kind were the worst, most heartless creatures imaginable. She looked up at him, tears still falling like rain, and was immediately met by the pools of bright, vivid green that were staring down at her. Never in her life had she seen such a lovely shade.

He seemed to be equally impressed. His eyes had widened and his jaw was slacked slightly.

This was when guilt resettled itself into Nyidia's heart. She didn't deserve to look into his eyes, didn't deserve to be shown such affection. She really didn't deserve for him to look at her that way. He thumbed one of her tears away from her cheek. She couldn't take this anymore! "I…" He didn't get a chance to finish his statement before his savior was jerking her body around and diving back into the depths.

"No, wait!" Arthur jumped up but, feeling incredibly dizzy, immediately fell to his knees. "Please, don't go!"

Underneath the water Nyidia swam as fast as she could. She could hear his cries, but she simply couldn't face him again. Her tears joined the ocean as she swam faster and faster home. A new determination filled her heart. She would take care of this. Those who dared to tarnish her good name and brutally massacre all those people would pay dearly! She would see to it! But that still wouldn't change the blame she felt for this genocide. If only she'd have been there, this never would've happened.