Meg swam through the palace as fast as she could. Behind her, the wake caused by her speed tossed random fish and other animals around. Taking a turn too fast, she ran into another woman.

"Watch where you're going," the woman yelled after Meg.

Meg ignored her and rushed through the doors at the end of the hall. They were quietly shut behind her.

"You're late," Ruby said, taking her bag from her. "Better get cleaned up."

"Yeah, no shit," Meg replied, going over to her mirror to take in her appearance. She didn't look too bad. Her shoulder-length brown hair was a bit mussed, but that was normal. Her purple fin was clean and the scales were intact. She threw on a belt made of braided seaweed and considered herself sufficiently dressed up.

"How mad?" she finally asked.

"When is he not mad?" Ruby answered, taking the items out of her bag and placing them around the room. They were treasures from the human world that she had found while exploring today, amd why she was late. She'd gone too far from the palace to be back in time.

Meg nodded and added a pearl-encrusted pin to her hair. Okay, now she was ready. "Wish me luck."

"Good luck," Ruby replied, holding up a box and examining it. Carefully she opened it and frowned. It was empty except for a small figurine of a human in a fluffy dress.

Meg swam to the throne room, barely givong the guards time to open the doors. The long aisle to the throne was lined by courtiers who smirked at her and barely hid their glee. They were obviously looking forward to whatevee punish!emt was coming. Meg lifted her chin and stared straight ahead, ignoring them.

The raised dais contained three thrones. One of the smallest was occupied by her brother, Tom, and the largest held her father. Azazel. King of the Pacific Ocean mermaids.

Meg approached the throne and bowed her head, waiting to be addressed. Azazel kept her waiting longer than was necessary. She could feel everybody's eyes on her, feel their barely contained laughter.

Her neck was starting to hurt when finally Azazel spoke. "Meg."

Meg raised her head and forced her face into a blank mask. "Father."

"You're late."

"Yes, Father."

"Let me guess... You were off searching for human things. Again."

Now the courtiers didn't bother to hide their laughter.

"Yes, Father."

Azazel sighed. "What am I going to do with you? We're merfolk, Meg. We collect the souls of humans who venture into our realm. That's all."

"That's—" Meg began before stopping herself. There was no arguing with him. "Yes, Father."

Azazel narrowed his eyes at her slip. "You may go. I don't need you after all."

Meg opened her mouth to protest. She was one of the candidates to be heir. She needed to be at court to learn how to rule.

Next to Azazel, Tom smirked and raised his eyebrows.

"Go, Meg, and let this be a lesson to you."

Humiliated and enraged, Meg turned around and swam out of the throne room.

Back in her rooms, she flung open the doors and stormed in. Slamming them shut, she pulled off the belt and pin and roughly handed them to Ruby.

"I take it he—"

"Is a stubborn, stupid, caught in the past, old—" Meg raged. She sank down onto her bed. "Is he right, Ruby? Am I wrong for liking human things?"

Ruby shrugged. "I don't think so."

"I just think...we can collect souls and learn at the same time. Humans are so fascinating." Getting up, she grabbed her bag.

"You're not going out again, are you?" Ruby asked, shocked.

"I'm not wanted at court. I'll be back, don't worry."

Meg swam away from the palace towards the land. That was where the best things were found. Most merfolk didn't get this close. They simply waited until the humans died and the souls were trapped in the water before collecting. Despite the soul collection, most merfolk despised humans.

She noticed the color of the water getting lighter and realized that she had never swum this close to land before. The sea bed seemed to be rising, and a strange light was shining through the water. Fascinated, she swam towards it. A bright cirxle of light appeared, the image wavy and indistinct, yet brightening and becoming clearer as she got closer to it.

It was the surface, she realized, suddenly. The end of the water and the beginning of the air. She had heard of it, of course, but never dared approach it. She should turn back immediately.

Yet, she felt drawn up. That bright light was so beautiful.

A shadow passed over the light and she ducked down, surprised. It was a long oval shape, slowly gliding through the water. It passed over her head and she saw that it wasn't an animal but something she had only heard of. A boat. Curious, she followed it as it drifted.

The light began to dim even though she didn't swim any deeper. The currents in the water got rougher, and she saw the waves on the surface got stronger. The boat was pushed by the waves. She watched as a particularly large wave came along and the boat was hit. It flipped onto its side and a body fell into the water. It was human.

Immediately, Meg swam for the struggling form. She reached it and grabbed onto the human's arm. He looked shocked and tried to pull away. Annoyed, Meg wrapped her arms around the human's torso and drew on her power. It gave her the strength to resist the human's struggles, and she pulled him through the water towards the surface.

Their heads broke through the surface, and Meg took a moment to look around. All around them was water, but it looked so, so different up here. Water was also falling from the sky, and the air was blowing harshly, creating large waves.

The human struggled in her arms, yelling, and Meg gripped him tighter. She looked for the boat but saw that it had been destroyed. In the distance she could see land, so she began to swim towards it.

The human ceased his struggles and seemed to be trying to help her swim. At least, that's what she thought he was trying to do. It was quite ineffectual, but it amused her so she didn't make him stop.

Finally, she reached the land and pulled the human out of the water. She couldn't go all the way onto the sand with her fin, but the important thing was that he was out of the water and safe.

"Who are you?" the man asked.

Meg studied him. He had dark brown hair, shorter than mermen wore theirs, and bright blue eyes.

"Meg," she replied.

"I'm Castiel. What are you?"

"I'm a mermaid," she said. His eyes widened and he gave a laugh. "You don't believe me. Don't humans know about mermaids?"

"Well, yes, but they're supposed to be myths."

She rolled her eyes. "This myth just saved your life. You're welcome."

He nodded and his eyes traveled down her body and over her fin. She moved it and he jumped a little. "Thank you."

Meg nodded and shifted, using her hands and arms to move deeper into the water. She felt hands against her back and saw that Castiel was helping her. She nodded, grateful, and without another word, returned to the sea. Once she was far from the land, she looked back. Castiel was still standing on the shore looking out at the water.

Meg returned to her life and tried to forget the human whose life she had saved. She never told anyone about it, not even her faithful servant Ruby. Taking an interest in human items and culture was one thing. Actually saving one was completely different. She would never have been forgiven.