There's a song that's inside of my soul

It's the one that I've tried to write over and over again

I'm awake in the infinite cold

But you sing to me

Over and over and over again

Allen stopped on his track. He then moved closer to the source of the voice, only to find Gwen, alone in her chamber. Her eyes were closed, and her fingers intertwined together as if in prayer.

Her voice had an ethereal quality in it—as if it was another soul singing in her body. Somehow, all the nerve endings in his body were numbed by the sound of her voice. He didn't even realize that he was holding in his breath while a fuzzy warm feeling began to fill his heart. It was her voice, he was sure, that created the warmth in his heart despite her cold aura.

The moment the last note of her voice disappeared into the cavity of his ear, his nerves began to regain what they had momentarily lost. Slowly, Allen began to be able to feel his limbs again, and he took a deep breath. The air, separated from the water by the haleweed in his system, washed away the residue of the paralyzing effect of the Seeress' Voice and sharpened his senses. Even so, some still lingered.

"It will get better with time," Gwen told him.

"I beg your pardon?"

"You know of stories seamen lost in the sea because of listening to mermaids' voice?"

Allen nodded.

Gwen paused for a moment. She didn't mean to tell him that. Why is it so easy to talk to this human? She asked herself. Is it because of the mermaid blood in him? Does that even make sense?

Water under the bridge; she had piqued his curiosity. Gwen gestured towards Allen to enter the chamber. No one would come at this hour for a reading, anyway, so there should not be any harm done even if they were found together in the chamber—provided nothing else happened besides a little bit of story telling.

"Merpeople believe that their destinies are written in their souls. The Seeress, who is given the ability to see into another's souls, are then able to see that destiny," Gwen explained. "Sometimes, Fate herself would visit the Seeress to give her… a vision. It is the intertwining of many destinies at once—impossible to see from looking into one or two souls, yet important to be known. These visions are expected to be announced far and wide, and in the past, the Seeress would surface and sing over the water to call the crowd."

"So these lost seamen… they came across the Seeress?"

"Yes, unfortunately so," Gwen nodded gravely. "It was exceptionally prevalent during the old times, when humans were not aware of her existence."

"Where did they go?"

Gwen's blue eyes grew even darker at the question. "Killed," she finally revealed.

The veil prevented Allen to see her full face, but if he did, he would see the expression of pure hurt and immense guilt washed over her face the moment she let the word rolled out from her tongue.

Gwen gazed deeply into Allen's eyes, trying to distill the merman in him from all of his humanly part. "Humans, the sovereign of the lands… the moment they stepped into the seas, unknowingly they had trespassed into our realm. They did not know of our existence... then, they battled on the water over a realm that is not even theirs to begin with."

"From below, we could hear the screams. We saw the bodies falling, and the blood that corrupted our waters. Sharks are employed as guards by those who can afford it because they would devour these bodies. We trained the sharks to finish these bodies in one strike—it was the least we could do. A quick death. During those times, we believed that humans were… a barbarous race."

"In any case, the Seeress had always been protected in my family line," Gwen continued. "My family is afraid that should humans learn of the Seeress' existence, they would either kill or capture her. Either case, they could not let that happen."

Allen's shock, unknowingly to him, had affected the water around him. The temperature of their surrounding dropped, and Gwen noticed it, but she dismissed it. "That's why, they were determined to kill each human drawn by the Seeress' Voice."

Allen drew in a long breath. "I see…" he finally said. "But, why did you not kill the three of us, then?"

Gwen sat still at where she was. She was still unsure whether she should let him know the real reason of why he was being held here instead of killed right away.

Allen waited patiently, knowing that she was weighing the options. He had learned to respect that majestic, pensive silence she carried about her. He wished Gwen could be more open as a person, believing that she could separate her identity as a mermaid and a Seeress.

However, how could she separate it if she were not even aware of it, for everyone could only see her as the Seeress?

Finally, Gwen offered him her hand. This time, he took it. The moment their skins touched, everything turned dark for the prince and he felt like being pulled out from his own body. He could still feel her cold hand, though, and it became his only tether to whatever remain in him.

When his sight came back, he saw a grand ship floating across the sea. The ship was painted in sea green and golden with a white, open superstructure. The grand vessel was surrounded by merpeople cheering and clapping or waving.

Eh? What happens with merpeople being afraid and what not?

A couple emerged to the deck. It was soon made clear to Allen that it was a wedding, but he couldn't help but wonder how could the newlywed invite the merpeople to their wedding.

She wore a pure white dress with sea-green accent and most noticeably puffed shoulder pieces. A sparkling golden tiara was set on her head, fastening the veil that barely subdued her striking red hair.

That hair gave away her identity. For all his life, Allen could only think of another redhead with such eye-catching hair.

Granny…

He then quickly noticed the man standing next to her as a much younger version of his grandfather. Except for the wrinkles and the gray hair, he was almost the same with the man who had nurtured his love for the sea.

It was then a merman emerged from the water, supported by a water pillar covering his tail. He held the golden trident in his right hand and reached for the bride with his free hand. They then embraced for a moment, and Allen heard the bride saying: "I love you, Daddy…"

The moment his heart skipped a beat was the same moment Gwen pulled him back to the present time. Allen panted; his heart beat wildly against his chest as if he had been sprinting for the past one minute.

So the stories were true...?

He stared at the mermaid before him in disbelief. "You… what…?" his words outpaced his thoughts by at least twice, so they came out in garbled fragments.

"Destiny is a tough business. A stubborn kind," Gwen lamented. "No matter how you try to bend it, unless the gods are in your favour… Fate will have it her way."

"What…?"

"Their marriage is the perfect example of that," Gwen opened her palm and an energy sphere was formed, replaying what Allen had just seen. "The King was initially opposed to it, and there was the villainous former court member… and yet they were together at the end of the day."

Gwen closed her fist and in an instant the sphere disappeared. "I believe among humans there is this story of how all humans share one forefather?"

Allen took a deep breath and nodded. "Likewise, it is believed that Poseidon is the forefather of the merkind."

She touched his cheek with her cold fingers, and her face drew closer to his that their noses almost touched. Even from that close proximity, he couldn't decipher the lower half of her face.

Her eyes were all he could see, and there was something that drew him to them. He could see himself being reflected on her eyes—divided, just like how he felt about himself at this point of time.

"Many would say… you belong to neither race," she murmured, her voice a faint breeze in his ears. "But, hold on to this, prince… for I can see you unite the two races, simply because you belong to neither."

Allen finally learns his true heritage!

Stay tuned for the next update! Please rate and review! ^^

A/N: the song featured above is Only Hope. As far as my memory serves me, the original song belongs to Switchfoot, but there is a cover version sung by Mandy Moore for the movie A Walk to Remember. ^^