Hello, it's HetaWriter/HetaReader here; bringing to you another chapter. :D

A BIG thanks goes to 4nim3fr33k for the fave, and to xXBlueSariaXx for the review. :DDD

xXBlueSariaXx: Well, wonder no more! Mathias' reason is here in this chapter, and well...I'll say it right now that he's very bitter about it. Don't worry; I have no intention of killing Antonio. XD yes, those are all indeed justifiable reasons - and well...you're quite correct on them. ^_^' well, I don't know - I always look at the year someone turns into and compare them together, however that's just me. ;)

Cue ongoing scene!

Antonio could feel his whole world spin around him in dizzying colours as he choked – Mathias' powerful grip throttling at his throat as he could hear the blonde human's furious screaming that pounded at his eardrums become more and more muffled. He started to slip more into unconsciousness as he submerged into a pool of empty darkness that swallowed him.

Honestly, he didn't expect this to happen, but then again…he neglected the fact that there were bad humans out there.

Just like there were bad merpeople.

Quan made him forget that fact because he was only kind and loving towards him.

'Quan…'

Antonio's emerald eyes suddenly shot up and, with his own grip tightening on Mathias', he brought his tail up. With a great swing of it, he was able to whack the Danish man away from him.

Mathias gave a surprised yelp as pain blossomed at his stomach where the red-tailed merman had struck him. However, as the Dane was knocked back, he had grabbed hold onto the closest thing to prevent him from losing his balance and falling over since he hadn't expected the forceful blow from the creature's tail.

What his hand grabbed onto was the white sheets.

At once, with a shocked scream, Antonio had ended up rolling off the bed from Mathias' accidental stripping of the warm sheets. The red-tailed merman landed with a loud thump on the carpeted floor as he looked up fearfully at the wheezing Dane who was still trying to collect himself from getting whacked rather hard. Looking around frantically; Antonio saw that the door was wide open – he began crawling as quickly as he could; his body wriggling and rippling on the floor.

Mathias gave out a cough as he rubbed at his chest from his spot, the blazing cold fire in his eyes as he caught sight of the merman trying to make his escape. "No, you freaking don't!" the Dane yelled as he suddenly dived right at Antonio – his hands grabbing his tail. "You're not going anywhere!"

Antonio gave a frightened squeak as he began writhing and thrashing around; desperately trying to get out of the enraged human's grip. "Mathias let me go!" he cried frantically. "Please! Why are you doing this?!"

"Don't lie to me!" shrieked the Dane as he pulled him towards him and reared back a fist. "You know what you did!"

"No, I don't! What did I do?!"

"I said don't lie to me!"

Antonio hit him again with his tail – this time on the head. Mathias was stunned for a moment, prompting the merman to deliver a swift right hook at the Dane's face, and attempt to escape from his clutches again. "Mei! Yong Soo! Kasem!" he screamed at the top of his lungs as he tried to get out of the room again. "Help! Please, help me!"

"Gotcha now, you little son of a bitch!"

All of a sudden, Mathias had taken hold of Antonio's tail again, only this time, he heaved him up from the tail with no problem at all; dangling the poor merman so that he was upside down, much like a strung fish in the market. Antonio gave a terrified squeal as the whole world literally turned upside down – he was wriggling and flailing around helplessly; trying his hardest to shake and possibly attempt to get out of the Dane's clutches, but the blonde human had a grip of iron, and his muscular arms weren't showing any indication to letting go any time sooner.

"You…" Mathias heaved as he glowered down at Antonio, causing the merman to tremble in fright.

"Mathias…why are you doing this?" whimpered the merman, gazing up at him in questioning fear. "You've never acted like this before-"

"Shut up!" snapped the Dane, his pupils contracting and his nostrils flared. Antonio flinched at the barking bellow as Mathias continued, "Don't sound so fucking innocent! I'm going to enjoy gutting you!"

"G-gutting me…?!" Antonio asked; what exactly was that? He had no idea what it was, but it sounded tremendously painful – and the merman didn't like experiencing any forms of it.

"Ja…" there was a maddened gleam that shone in Mathias' eyes as he dropped Antonio at the other side of the bed – closer to the locked balcony and. The merman gave a little yelp when he was mercilessly dropped down into the squeezed space, and he looked up, backing away slightly on his palms as Mathias' eyes fixated onto something in Quan's room. "Gutting you…"

"W-what…what is gutting…?" Antonio tried to keep his voice level, but it was a difficult task. His heart was beating in a dangerously rapid pace in his toned chest, and there was no way for him to control his shaking and trembling as he observed the Danish man who went to one of Quan's walls.

"Put it this way," Mathias' voice was cold and low; chillingly different to the usually warm and upbeat cheer he always had before. "I'm going to enjoy gutting you open like a fish!"

Turning around, the thing he picked off from Quan's wall was that strange spear-like weapon that the Vietnamese man had kept on there. Antonio didn't know whether or not that was a real weapon, however, he wasn't inclined to stay put and try out.

However, as he tried to back off, he found his bare back making contact with a cold wall,

Mathias was coming closer and closer in a progressively quickened pace, and for a moment, Antonio thought that things were going to be over, and that he would either be left as a bloody mess, or that Mathias would get rid of his remains.

However, that was when a loud voice shouted, "Mathias! Stop that, da ze!"

Antonio saw Mei and Yong Soo immediately wrap their arms around Mathias' great figure from behind – trying desperately to pull him back. Still, it was a rather difficult task; considering that Mathias was a full grown adult man who had a daily working out schedule and that there were two teenagers pulling on him; and also, he was determined and thirsting for merman blood right about now.

"Antonio, run!" Mei shrieked as she heaved at the Danish man with her cousin. "Crawl! Whatever! Just get out of here!"

"No, you don't!" yelled Mathias as he thrashed and flailed around – his arm raised back to hurl the spear at Antonio. "I'll kill you for what you've done!"

"What is going on here, ana~?" Kasem calmly entered the room, scratching his head, when he caught sight of the bizarre and horrendous display before him. The Thai man's brown eyes widened so much that the whites were visible, and his jaw dropped.

"Hyeong Kasem!" Yong Soo shouted as he struggled keeping Mathias in check – he was honestly doing the job more than poor Mei who was tugging at the Dane's waist. "Help us, da ze!"

The Thai man immediately ran forward and ran in front of Mathias; pushing him back with his hands and providing as a barrier in between him and Antonio. Kasem exclaimed, "Mathias! What on earth are you doing?!"

"Get outta the way, Kasem!" seethed Mathias as he stretched his arm higher so he wouldn't hit the Thai man – though Kasem was a considerate distance, the Dane didn't want to take any chances.

"Why are you reacting this way to Antonio?" inquired Kasem. "What has he done to you?!"

"I haven't done anything to him!" cried Antonio. "Really! I haven't!"

"He hasn't done anything to me, but watch!" shouted Mathias. "He will do something! His lot!"

"His lot?" echoed Mei; her own eyes stretching widely. "You know that…?"

"That these little pieces of crap exist?!" snorted Mathias. "Heck yeah, I do! And if killing one is compensation for what happened; then fine! I have no problem in killing this one!"

"But you're from Denmark!" yelled Yong Soo in exasperation. "You're supposed to love mermaids!"

Mathias stopped for a moment and looked at the Korean boy ludicrously, "That's like saying all Swiss people are goat-milking Heidi people who love to yodel!" he then turned his attention back onto Antonio and raised his spear arm again as Kasem then tried to push Mathias back with all his might – which proved to actually work, considering the fact that Kasem was definitely not small, with doing kickboxing as a pastime.

Antonio grabbed onto the bed's edge and heaved himself up to crawl over the bed and make his escape out of the room while the humans were all shouting and screaming in voices that soon garbled and melded with each other in a chaotic mess of pitches and tones. Yong Soo was shouting, Kasem was trying to comfortingly appease the Dane, while Mei was tearfully pleading him to stop.

Seeing the tears spring into Mei's eyes, the red-tailed merman became hesitant; wanting to come over and just hug her and assure her that things were going to be okay.

Despite them obviously not being so, and it was all just disorder and mayhem.

A suddenly sharp snapping sound of wood making contact with the doorframe made everyone stop with what they were doing and turn around to see what caused the abrupt noise.

Quan was standing at the doorway – his paddle was out, and apparently, he rapped its flat surface against the wall, creating that loud sound that ceased everyone's movements, though they were all panting from the gist of the whole thing.

The Vietnamese man was making his way home and only just a few steps from his house, he could hear the shouting, yelling and swearing emanating from within – in his room.

Frozen with dread, Quan had immediately bolted inside, fearful that something horrible might've happened to Antonio, and upon entering the room – saw the rather shocking sight of Mathias with his Phác Đao, which he kept on his wall with some other weapons just in case. He also noticed that Antonio was on the bed, too, right on his belly.

"Quan!" the merman exclaimed, immediately brightening in relief at the sight of him. "I'm so glad you came!"

The Vietnamese man instantly came to his lover's side and held him protectively as he murmured comforting words into his ear, calming him down. Quan felt horrid from the shaking and trembling that the merman was making, too. He then slowly raised his head – his honey-gold orbs were glowing in angry flames as he slowly stood up and before Antonio, his glare directed straight at Mathias who was panting heavily, taking husky, deep breaths as he deflated upon the sight of his boss. "You can let go of him now," Quan said, voice frosty and tone quietly sharp.

That voice caused unpleasant chills to run down Antonio's spine.

Mei and Yong Soo immediately let go of the Dane and watched quietly as Kasem joined them. Quan was glowering silently at Mathias; despite being noticeably shorter than the Dane, he faced him directly and gazed him right in the eye – golden eyes sharp as daggers.

Mathias could only stare back at him, however, to say that he wasn't scared would be foolish. There was a reason why the Dane had treated the Vietnamese man with a lot of respect besides the fact that Quan respected him as well – his Asian employer was scary as crap when the time came around and his temper was pushed. The Danish man remembered when Quan found out that he was robbed from someone he trusted – he was not only sad, but furious.

And the result was the chipped, wooden pieces of two rowboats as well as a battered punching bag that needed replacing.

He was skinnier and shorter, but Quan was definitely not a pushover; you couldn't be one especially where you were required to have a mind for your business to thrive.

"Mathias," Quan spoke up in an unnervingly calm voice. He lowered his hand which held his paddle, "I see you now know what Antonio is."

"Yeah, well no kidding," Mathias said rather edgily; he knew that he was being rather disrespectful right now to his employer, but he just couldn't help it. "You didn't tell me you were keeping that…that…" he then spat, "Disgusting monster here in your own bed and home!"

Antonio was horrified at being called that and his jaw dropped open, "Qué? Monster? Me?"

"Don't act all innocent and cute!" snarled Mathias. "I know what you lot are capable of! Ohoho! Very well…" he glared down at Antonio – gaze empowering and menacing much like his towering form. "You like it, huh? Tempting humans to do whatever the hell you want – making us do crap against our will. Must feel nice, right? Were you planning on taking Quan away, too?"

"W-what…?" Antonio gaped. "No! Never! I'd never do that!"

"Don't throw your bullshit at me!" yelled Mathias as he waved the spear, prompting Quan to stand guard defensively with his own paddle raised. "If you meant that, then give me back my best friend!"

Here, Yong Soo quickly spoke up, "'Best friend?' Who do you mean by that?"

Suddenly, Mathias' whole figure deflated, and a flash appeared in his pale blue eyes – a sliver of grief and a pang of agony as that memory that haunted his sleep and plagued his dreams appeared more vividly before him: now in full focus and with no detail left out. The Dane shut his eyes as he let out a deep breath.

"Take your time, ana," Kasem said gently, coming carefully forward and placing a hand on the Danish man's chiselled arm. "We're all ears…"

Mathias' eyes shot open as he gazed at the Thai man; his once infuriated expression melted to one of great remorse. The Dane then responded, "You heard me; my best friend. Norge…"

'The name I kept on hearing whenever he had those nightmares, ana,' Kasem thought to himself as his glasses shone slightly in recognition. "And…what about this Norge fellow?" questioned the Thai man.

"His real name is Lukas," said Mathias in an unusually soft voice that was traced with sadness. "Lukas Thomassen…"

"Wait," Mei perked up. "Thomassen? That's Emil's last name – wait, so wouldn't that mean that Lukas is-?!"

"Yeah," the Dane nodded. "Lukas is Emil's older brother."

"Really?" here, Yong Soo was shocked. "But…I heard from Tino and Berwald that he disappeared years ago; nobody knows what happened to him and where he is now."

A flicker of furious flame flared in Mathias' eyes as they narrowed to dangerous slits, "Yeah? Well, Lukas didn't disappear – he was taken." He then stabbed a finger at Antonio, "By one of his lot!"

"When…did this happen? What exactly happened?" Quan questioned calmly, though he was very surprised to hear this – he had heard from Sadik and his wife that there had once been a Norwegian boy by the name of Lukas Thomassen, but he disappeared without a trace or even words of where he was going or left off to.

It was as if he vanished out of thin air.

Mathias faltered; recoiling slightly as the memory played again; prompting him to speak of a past event that only he himself knew alone. "Well…" he murmured. "This is what happened…"

"Hey, Norge!" a loud and boisterous Danish boy called excitedly at his friend as he ran up to him while holding navy blue robes and a cap. "There you are, buddy!"

His best friend, a Norwegian boy with short, light blonde hair and dull, storm blue eyes heaved a sigh as he turned his attention from the window to the upbeat Dane. "I can hear you perfectly fine; there is no need to shout," he said, tone slightly annoyed. "Now, what is it this time?"

"Can you really believe it?!" Mathias grinned widely like the Cheshire cat as he raised up and dangled the blue robes and the cap before his best friend's face. "We're really graduating! We're gonna get out of this place soon and do whatever we want! Isn't this amazing?!"

Lukas gave a half-hearted shrug, "You do know that with more freedom comes much more responsibility and risks, right?"

"Awww, come on, Norge!" the Dane pouted. "That may be…but there's also fun and adventure! Stuff that the world will throw at you! What will the world throat at you? What do you think?"

Lukas rubbed at his chin as he this time shrugged both shoulders, "Not sure on what to say to that; that is for the world to decide, and for the world alone…"

"Yeah, and I'm ready for it!" Mathias punched his fists up excitedly. "Bring it on, world! Mathias Densen is here to take you on! I ain't afraid of you! I'm ready to fight with all I got!"

The Norwegian boy gave a snort at his Danish best friend's enthusiasm, however, the corners of his lips moved slightly upward to form a small smile in his direction.

Their graduation day came so quickly, that Mathias felt that it was only just yesterday that he had showed Lukas his largely sized robes, but even then, the Dane found that he was actually a bit too tall for the large size and they reached up to just below his knees rather than his calves like everyone else. Throughout the ceremony, he would sneak and steal glances at his best friend; flashing him a big, bright beam and a thumbs-up every so often, and a funny expression at others – one time giving a covered, inaudible yawn during the deputy principal's speech.

Lukas stared back, unamused, however the snort he gave at the Dane's expression was actually his way of expressing how he thought his best friend's gesture was funny. And in all honesty, he was getting rather bored of the ceremony and wanted it to be over already.

"Man, that took so long!" Mathias sighed as he took off his cap and fanned himself with it. "Damn…it was getting really hot in there, too!"

Lukas shrugged, "I didn't mind it, honestly."

"Really?" Mathias' baby blues widened. "Wow, Norge…are you part snowman or something?"

The Norwegian boy was unamused, "That was terrible, anko."

Mathias guffawed, "Hey! Can't blame a guy for trying, right?" he and his best friend were walking along the pier that was somewhat out of town; closer to that white beach house that nobody had chosen to buy yet – it was rather high in price. So naturally, it was a great spot to spend time alone together with nobody to come and interrupt you – that is, until someone buys and moves into the house.

"It is a beautiful afternoon," Lukas said; face still point blank, but eyes shining fondly at the beautiful, blue ocean that shimmered with the sun's rays dappling on its salty surface. "The sea looks calm for once, too."

"Yeah," Mathias sighed contentedly as he stretched and inhaled deeply; welcoming the salty smell. "It's awesome." As his best friend nodded, the Dane then spoke up in a much softer and more serious tone, "Hey, Norge…?"

Lukas turned his head around; surprised at how serene and serious the usually cheery and wild Dane was. "What is it?" the Norwegian boy asked with a slight scowl furrowing on his features.

"You know what you're gonna do with your life, don't you?" Mathias asked. "You wanted to be a physician or something, didn't ya?"

Lukas nodded, "Yes, that is correct. Why? What's the matter, anko?"

"Well…" here, the Dane scratched at the back of his head, eyes planted to the ground at first before he diverted their gaze to the sea, "It's just…you already know what you wanna do in your life; how do you know that? You're not scared of getting rejected or failing? What if you don't make it?"

Lukas arched an eyebrow at the thoughtful question and how serious his best friend looked, but nonetheless, after collecting his thoughts together and mulling it over, he finally responded, "Well…yes, I do want to be a physician, preferably, however that saying so, as I said before; you really don't know what the world is going to throw at you – only the world knows and decides on that. You only have to try and face it the best that you can, and continue one. Rejection and failure…I know that we'll face them several times in life; we just need to persevere. Persevere and try again, otherwise if I keep failing – I shall just have to do something else, won't I?"

Mathias blinked as a smile spread out on his face, immediately brightening the atmosphere, "Man, you're so smart, Norge! Never thought of it that way!"

"It's not intelligence," Lukas said in a deadpan tone. "It's logic; something you lack."

"Hey, Norge?"

"What is it this time?"

"We…" the Dane licked his lips and bit the bottom one for a moment before shaking his great head and resuming his question, "We'll still be friends…right?"

Lukas blinked as he gazed up at the Danish boy, whose baby blues were glimmering with hope right down at him. The Norwegian boy heaved another sigh as he crossed his arms over his chest and took a few steps forward at the docks to get a closer look at the great expanse laid before them. He spread his arms out slightly and let the cool breeze billow through the rather loose sleeves of his graduation robes.

"Of course, anko. Of course."

That was all Mathias could ever want or ask for; his smile grew even wider (if that was possible) as he immediately bound forward and wrapped his arms around the Norwegian boy, enveloping him into a rather crushing bear-hug. "Yeah! Friends forever, Norge!" he roared happily.

Lukas rolled his eyes as he winced slightly in the Dane's grip and was about to tell him off, when he could just hear something.

"Ah-ah-ah-ah ahhh…"

"Wait, Mathias let go of me and shut up for a moment."

Mathias stopped laughing in glee and let go of his best friend; noticing the focused dark blue eyes and how knotted the Norwegian boy's eyebrows were. "Huh? What's up, Norge-?" he began, only to be cut off by his shushing.

Lukas gazed out at the sea, eyes now slits as he glanced prudently around – scanning the area carefully.

That was when he saw something that amazed him.

There was what appeared to be a young boy in the water.

"Anko…" the Norwegian boy muttered. "I'm not going mad, am I? But is there someone in the water over there?"

Mathias blinked and looked at the direction that Lukas was looking at, and squinted. The Dane's eyes widened in surprise as he blinked, "Hey, no – you're right! I see him there, too!" he then cupped his hands around his mouth and called, "Hey! You over there! Why are you all alone and just randomly floating around in the middle of the ocean? Do you know how rough the waves can get?"

The young boy slowly turned his head to face them; his big ochre eyes shining curiously as they settled on the two graduated boys who were on the dock. He blinked as he tilted his head; his short, spiky black-brown hair was dripping droplets of salty water.

"Don't be afraid," Lukas said in a calm and gentle voice as he came a little closer. "It's okay; we won't hurt you – why are you swimming all alone in the middle of the ocean?"

Suddenly, the boy's face broke out into a warm beam; shocking Mathias and both unnerving and annoying Lukas. Then next, he dived underwater and swam just that little bit closer to them…

…but not before splashing the both of them.

Mathias coughed and hacked the salty water as he called, "Hey! Watch it next time!" he and Lukas however froze at what they were seeing.

A light blue tale made of cascading scales, with ribbon-like indigo fins.

"A tail…?" breathed Lukas.

"Whoa! That's a mermaid!" exclaimed Mathias. "Well…merman here – I heard about them in stories; I didn't really think they were real…!"

The merman's head then popped up from the water as he ran both his hands through his hair, seemingly fixing at his slightly spiky locks as he softly shut his eyes and glanced right at Lukas, breathing rather huskily. The Norwegian boy only stared back, feeling heat gather to his pale cheeks as the beautiful creature gazed solely onto him.

Then all of a sudden, the merman opened his mouth and the most beautiful voice that Lukas had ever heard resonated around him – softly invading his ears and taking great hold of his mind. It was a younger mezzo-alto; signalling that the merman was probably still considerably young – maybe even possibly younger than them if they were calculating in human years – however, it was enchanting and strong; soft at some part as well.

"The day starts, the day ends, time crawls by."

"Oh, crap!" Mathias exclaimed as he immediately placed his hands over his ears. He immediately took a great number of steps away from the edge of the pier, "He's giving us the siren song in his siren voice! Cover your ears, Norge! Quick!"

Lukas blinked, snapped back to present, and placed his own hands over his ears, however, more of that beautiful voice was waltzing right into his ear – caressing and stroking at his ears.

"Night steals in, pacing the floor. The moments creep, yet I can't bear to sleep, 'til I hear you sing…"

"No!" Mathias yelled, seeing Lukas slowly lower his hands as he gazed out to the sea; his sapphire blue eyes fixated upon the merman. "What the hell do you think you're doing?! Don't! Don't do it!"

Much to his horror; his Norwegian best friend was taking slow steps towards the edge of the dock, coming closer and closer.

"And weeks pass, and months pass, seasons fly."

Seeing Lukas suddenly lean down and look over the edge, eyes still fixated upon the merman who was singing straight to him.

Slowly, he then turned his head around – revealing his dull sapphire eyes were now glazed and unseeing; seemingly in a sort of trance.

"What're you doing?! Get away from there!" screamed Mathias; his baby blues widening as his tone gained an octave in desperation. "Get back! Get back here!"

The merman only smiled widely as he beckoned with his hand; continuously singing in that voice that would forever haunt Mathias' mind.

"Still you don't walk through the door. And in a haze, I count the silent days…"

"No!" Mathias cried, seeing Lukas bend his knees down and went into a diving position. The Dane then began running to his best friend – his hands outstretched in a desperate attempt to grab him.

However, the next scene played in slow motion to him.

His own pleads and shouting were becoming more muted as Lukas finally sprung off from the soles of his feet; effectively jumping over the edge, and causing a great splash as he submerged into the ocean with Mathias' fingertips only brushing on the robes before he landed in the ocean himself.

The Dane was blinking furiously underwater as he saw the merman take hold of Lukas and lead him away; his light blue tail glimmering underwater.

That smile was mocking him; teasing him.

In a hasty attempt to shout out loud, the Danish man accidentally swallowed some of the salty water – causing it to rub and strike harshly in his throat as he shot up to surface, coughing terribly. He glanced around him wildly as he screamed in desperation, "Get back here! Come back! Give him back!"

However, there was no response that met him – just the soft murmuring of the ocean rolling and lazily stretching by. Mathias' heart beat rapidly in his chest as he looked around frantically, growing more and more panicked as he saw that there was nothing out there.

"No…"

They were gone.

"No, no…"

It was just the great expanse of the sea.

"No, no, no, no, no!"

He was gone.

"Norge!"

"He was never seen again after that…" Mathias said in a quiet whisper; his face grief-stricken. "Nobody believed me when I told them that a merman took him away either…so I had to lie and say that I honestly had no idea as to what happened to him – all I heard was a train, that's what I said." He buried his face in his hands, "Lort…his mother was devastated…and Emil…"

"I never knew that that was what happened to Emil's big brother," said Mei in a hushed tone.

"Neither can I," admitted Yong Soo, feeling rather uncomfortable at that moment. "Damn, da ze…"

"How many years has that been, then?" inquired Quan, honestly unsure of how to act; from his research upon discovering what had saved him before, he read about merpeople and sirens, and how there was great debate on both being one and the same or being related. But still, to actually have one town citizen taken away from one in the open? "You said it happened during graduation – you're twenty-four now, and assuming you were eighteen during graduation…"

"Yeah," Mathias nodded as he bit his bottom lip. "It's been almost six years now…" he shuddered as his hands then clenched into tight fists. "It was all my fault! I should've done something sooner! If I did, then maybe Norge…he wouldn't have-"

"Mathias, that wasn't your fault," spoke up Antonio, feeling very sad for him; he heard of some kingdoms of merpeople doing such, however that happened during the olden days – now in present, they were a peaceful race.

"Not fully, it is," the Dane's head then whipped up as he glared daggers at the red-tailed merman who shuffled nervously in his spot. "The fault also falls on you!"

"I don't take humans away!" protested Antonio. Seeing Yong Soo look away, unsure, and Kasem rather nervous while Mei buried her face in her hands, the red-tailed merman cried, "Really, I wouldn't!"

"And why should we believe you?" scoffed Mathias. "That's what you do! You take humans out to sea where they meet their doom! Sailors, swimmers, athletes, even innocent bystanders! You'll jump at the chance to whore yourself just to get humans to jump in the ocean, and for what? For your own sick amusement at seeing them drown?! Is that it?!"

"No, no, no!" Antonio shook his head vigorously at every venomous word that Mathias declared. "I wouldn't ever do that to anyone! Nunca! Believe me!"

"I bet you're just waiting for an even better opportunity to cause pain and misery to everyone here," taunted Mathias; not caring if his words were sharp or that little voice in his head telling and nudging him to stop from his tirade – his anger took reign over his mind and rationality; engulfing him in a great whir of strong emotions. "Am I right, or am I right?"

"You're wrong!" shouted Antonio; though it seemed as if he was shouting so loudly as a means of drowning Mathias' own voice rather than defend his case.

"That's what you want!" snarled Mathias. "You want that little opportunity to take Quan away, too! I bet you! You'll take him to the sea one day and you'll leave behind his family to cry and grieve over him! Because you're a heartless, scheming little piece of crap that hides behind a happy, pretty face!"

"No!"

"Quan," Mathias shifted his attention onto the Vietnamese man. "Chuck him back into the sea; I don't recommend keeping him around for long – trust me, he's no better than Allie – he'll stab you in the back someday…"

"Shut up!"

Everyone stared at Antonio in absolute shock. Mathias blinked, looking both surprised and outraged, "What? Got something to say to me? Then speak already!"

"I said shut up!" Antonio shouted; his emerald orbs were fierce, and they were shining. "How dare you lie about and judge me just because you've only met one of my kind! We are all not like that! In fact; we purposely try to avoid humans; not collect them, and certainly not drown them!"

Mathias snorted; his lip curling up, "See that? He'll throw that crap at you, too, Quan – just throw him back in the ocean. In fact, I can help you there if you want."

The red-tailed merman immediately stopped upon realizing that he wasn't helping his situation. His eyes widened as he turned to look at his human; fearful.

"He wasn't the one who took Lukas away, Mathias," Quan then said, raising his head. "Mathias, Antonio is right; you shouldn't be judging a whole race just because of one committing the deed – it is the same as racism in our world."

Mathias' eyes widened as his jaw dropped, "You…you're calling me a racist now?!" seeing the lack of protesting, the Danish man shrieked, "You know what?! Screw you lot! I'm going back to my room!" he made his way to the doorway before turning his head around and snarling, "Don't say I didn't warn you when that little sea-whore places you six feet underwater! The best idea is to get rid of him before he does anything to you! Get rid of him!"

And with that, he stormed out of the room in a huff; slamming the door behind him with such force, that the whole house rattled and quaked in fear.

Antonio looked at Mei, Yong Soo and Kasem – Quan's cousins didn't dare look him in the eye. And after a few minutes of the tense atmosphere stretching on, they left the room one-by-one without a word.

However, the merman could evidently see the doubt in Yong Soo's eyes, the wonder in Kasem's, and the sorrow in Mei's. Antonio knew that Mathias had been part of their family and home far longer than he was – and therefore, his opinion would impact them greatly. Here would probably be no exception.

'They don't believe me…'

After watching his cousins leave his room, Quan turned his head around to look down at his lover when he was startled upon what his eyes caught sight of.

A tear leaked from Antonio's eye and flowed down his cheek.

And before the Vietnamese man knew it, one tear soon became several as they poured down the merman's face, he then bowed his head and his shoulder rocked and heaved as he sobbed quietly – his once cheerful and bright emerald green eyes, which used to burn so optimistically, now swimming with tears and the light appearing to be shattered.

Immensely worried, Quan dropped his paddle and scooped the merman into his strong arms, enveloping him in a tight, yet tender hug, gently pushing Antonio's head into his shoulder for him to cry on.

Antonio's emerald eyes widened slightly, but he immediately gripped onto his human as he wept; holding onto him tightly, as if he were afraid that the Vietnamese man would disappear from view.

Quan ran his hand through the merman's chocolate-coloured tresses, stroking and combing through the hair as means of comfort as he quietly shushed him and whispered calming words of comfort in his ear.

"Por favor…" Antonio sniffed. "Please…don't throw me away…"

Quan arched an eyebrow at that.

"Don't leave me…I don't want you to leave me…" feeling the pain shoot even more unbearably in his chest, the red-tailed merman only clung onto his human tighter. "Please…keep me by your side…!"

Quan heaved a sigh, "Do you honestly think I'm going to just throw you back into the sea from all of that?" he leaned back slightly as did his lover, and flashed him a sincere and warm smile for once, "We've been through a lot together; we may be different, and Mathias and I have known each other for a long time and I value his opinion…however, I love you. I know also that you are incapable of such a thing; you're far too kind and naïve for your own good, to be honest. So, please…" with one of his index fingers, the Vietnamese man softly brushed away one of the tears that flowed down Antonio's face. "Stop crying and smile; smile like how you always do."

Antonio sniffed as he wiped at his face with his arm, trying just that; to smile. And well, he couldn't help but give a sheepish chuckle at his human's words – they were great comfort to him, and it made his cracked heart immediately repair itself. "Mi amor," he sniffed again. "You always know what to say to make me feel better…"

Quan bowed his head slightly, an amused rumble in his throat, "I try hard." Seeing the endearing gaze that the red-tailed merman was giving him, and as he wiped his tears away, the Vietnamese thought to himself, 'And I'm inclined to try even harder if it's you who needs to be comforted.'

The red-tailed merman then settled onto his human again, snuggling close to him as he shut his eyes and heaved a sigh, 'How did I end up with someone as wonderful and understanding as you, mi tesero?'

And from that, the once tense and spiteful atmosphere quietly melted away as the two lovers stayed in that position.

End scene.

Well, things certainly took a huge turn in regards to emotions, hasn't it? Poor Antonio...I feel kind of bad for him - at least he has Quan to comfort and hold him. :)

Anyway, who was that mystery merman who took Lukas away? Will Mathias ever recover from his bitter feelings? What will happen next, do you think?

This arc is still far from over - it's got a a few chapters left before we move onto another one, but yes, anyway - thoughts and opinions? Have a nice day, all of you. :DDD

Sincerely,
HetaWriter/HetaReader