*GASP* I'm alive! THIS IS SO OVERDUE I'M SO SORRY! But finally I'm here with the marvelous SECOND CHAPTER OF EYES~!

Days passed without another sign of the strange boy. Alois started to wonder if perhaps he had been hallucinating. After all, Alois had barely survived alone on the island-there was barely enough for him, how could two people survive?

Just hours after he reached that conclusion, the music started. It was soft at first, a sweet, unearthly melody like the waves that played at dusk and lulled Alois to sleep. Slowly it grew louder and more frequent, reaching a point where it was audible from anywhere on the island at nearly every hour Alois was awake. It wasn't blasting really, more like the music had fused with the soft breezes all over the island and whispered into Alois's ear.

Once, Alois stopped to study the music, closing his eyes and listening carefully. It didn't sound like any instrument he'd ever heard before-almost like someone had made a flute out of waves and sugar and played it with the ability of a master. The sound was pleasant, and conjured feelings of nostalgia and happiness, though Alois was sure he'd never heard it before. He wished he knew where the music was coming from, but no matter where he looked he couldn't find the source. Soon, it simply blended with his daily life, and he gave little thought to the beautiful tune.

Ciel put down his flute. He watched for a moment longer to make sure the boy was really asleep, then dove into the ocean to swim home, wondering if he had made the right decision with the plan he was going to put into action. It was going to be risky, and Ciel's own natural instincts screamed that it was an awful plan, even with precautions.

Minutes later, Ciel had reached his home-a great palace of coral and stone at the very edge of a great kingdom, surrounded by a beautiful garden. He ducked into his bedroom window, and set his flute on its stand. He stood and took a few deep breaths-this was going to take nearly all his courage, as it was risky and went against everything he'd been taught about humans. It even went against his fathers orders when he accidentally mentioned he had been observing humans in the ports above, which rang in his skull: 'Fine, you can watch, but don't speak. Don't let them know we exist.'

Ciel was about to leave through the window-he had his hands on the windowsill even-when their was a knock on the door.

Backing away from the window, Ciel called, "Come in."

The door was opened by-speak of the devil it was a pale, thin merman with dark hair and red eyes. Sebastian, king and Ciel's father.

"Father," Ciel greeted coldly.

"Ciel!" Sebastian smiled, "How are you? You've been gone so much recently, I've been worried."

"Well, I'm sorry, but it's none of your business anyway where I go. It's not like I've got anything to do around here," Ciel turned his sapphire gaze out the window, up to the surface of the water.

"I understand that, and that you get bored rather easily," Sebastian put a hand on Ciel's shoulder, "But why do you run away without telling anyone where you're going?"

"I'm not running away," Ciel pushed the hand off his shoulder, "I'm exploring. If I'm going to rule this kingdom one day I want to know my way around it."

"Alright," Sebastian still looked a little concerned, "Are you going out again then?"

"Yes."

"I will see you at dinner then. Don't be late again, alright?"

"Fine."

And with that, Ciel swam out the window, heading up the surface, and the island where he'd make his gamble.

When Alois woke up from his nap, he was surprised to not hear the music starting to drift in. The island seemed sad and quiet without the soft tune.

He sat up and headed down to the beach, where he found something strange. A message was written in the sand in shaky English:

Hello. How are you? What's your name?

Staring at the message, Alois thought for a moment. Was it from the boy from before? Deciding to humor whoever it was, Alois bent down and wrote a reply under the original.

I'm fine, I guess. My name is Alois. You?

Sitting down in the sand to wait, Alois watched the glittering sea. No one came, so he figured no one would, and went farther inland to find food.

Once he was done, Alois returned to the beach and found a surprise-someone had responded! It was in the same shaky hand as before:

I'm glad you're fine. I'm well myself. My name is Ciel.

There was what looked like a smeared out P before the word Ciel, but Alois ignored it. He was about to scribble a reply when he saw another sentence below the message.

Did you like my music, Alois?

Blinking in surprise, Alois read those six words over and over again. This 'Ciel' had been the one playing the music? On closer inspection, Alois discovered his name was written neater than all the other words, like the writer had taken special care when writing it.

Alois knelt and wrote:

Yes, it was very nice, thank you Ciel. Where do you live? I haven't seen you anywhere.

He stood and left after that, a small spring in his step.

The come-and-go messaging went on for the rest of the day, going like this:

I can't tell you.

-Why?

I just can't. I'm sorry.

-I guess it's okay then.

May I ask where you lived?

-Lived?

Before you came to the island. (there was smeared out word before the, like the person had made a mistake)

-Oh. London.

Sounds fun.

-It wasn't.

Oh. You know, I would like to meet you.

-Me too. Where, and when?

Tomorrow, on the beach, if you could.

-Sure, that's fine. I'm not going anywhere.

Thank you.

Deciding not to reply to that message, as it was getting dark, Alois went to go to sleep. As he slipped into dreams, he wondered how this meeting would go. What was Ciel like? Was he really the boy from before? He would have to wait to find out.

That night, his dream was like the strange one from before, except this time some light filtered in through the waves, and revealed a shining blue tail, and a pair of pale hands. The merman drifted closer to Alois, who had a sudden feeling of panic, like he was about to drown. His face still clouded by shadow, the merman brought his face close to Alois's, their foreheads touching. Alois saw a glint of dark blue before the merman came even closer, his lips about to touch Alois's-

Alois woke with a jolt. The sun had begun to rise, and he sprung up to rush down to the beach. He was eager to meet Ciel, after all.

When he got to the beach, there was someone there. It was the boy from that fateful day, only know Alois could see more of him. He was sitting the the murky shallows, and wore no shirt. He was thin and pale with an almost dainty figure, about Alois's age based on appearances. He had blue-black hair a little shorter than Alois's, and sapphire eyes. He twisted to look behind him, and a small smile alighted on his face. "Alois?" he asked, his voice full of hope.

Ciel heard footsteps behind him, and stopped churning up mud to hide his tail to look at the source of the sound. There he was! The human boy-Alois! His white shirt and brown pants were somewhat wrinkled and dusty, like he had just gotten out of bed. The sun seemed to highlight his platinum blonde hair and glacier blue eyes in a beautiful way. It took all of Ciel's self control not to let blush spill across his cheeks.

"Alois?" he asked softly.

"Ciel?" the boy ask in return.

"Yes, I'm p-Ciel," Ciel smiled widely, "Come sit with me."

Alois sat next to Ciel, a little farther back on the beach, which was just warming up from the sun. Alois slipped his feet up to his ankles into the water, leaning back on his hands. Ciel made sure his tail was still hidden in the muddy water, wanting to keep his identity a secret for a little longer.

"I didn't know anyone else lived on this island," Alois began, "Then I saw your message and I nearly flipped."

Ciel laughed. "I live nearby, not really on the island, which is why you never see me. I didn't know anyone lived on the island myself," the little lie made Ciel's spirit sink a little.

"Well, now we know. Oh, and, you said the music I heard was you? It was really nice," Alois stretched his legs out a little more, wanting to keep them from getting burnt by the sand.

Ciel was too warmed by the complement to notice Alois's foot drawing nearer to his tail. "Yes, that was me," he said with a smile, "I don't have my flute with me though."

"That's too bad. But if you didn't know I was here, how'd you find out I was he-" Alois's foot slid against something smooth and cool. It didn't feel like water. It felt like...a fish.

Ciel felt the foot on his tail, but moved it away too late. The mud had shifted away with the movement, and the sun revealed the sapphire color of his scales. Ciel was frozen with fear as Alois looked from the water to his eyes.

"Is that...a tail?" he asked.

MWHAHAHAAHHA I'm ending it there! I thought it'd be a good ending spot, since this is now designated my current project. You will now have to wait for chapter 3!

Well, that's it really *smile*. If you have questions, comments, even if you just like the story, feel free to leave a review! I enjoy hearing from everyone!

Though, something happened, so I might not get back to you right away. I will eventually though! I will try to answer every review! See you all next chapter!-

Ciaran