The waves of the Yellow Sea turned dark like the sky above. The moon and stars had risen and created a nightscape. The only illumination within the sea came from the white celestial objects dotting the night sky.

An orange-tailed mermaid with golden hair, wearing a pearl headdress, and a midnight blue shell bodice was sleeping peacefully in a clamshell. In her dream, a giant golden bird dived into the sea and instantly turned into a giant gold fish with pectoral fins in a jagged shape like that of bird wings. The massive creature she was dreaming about was the Kun-Peng, a legendary creature that was known as a Peng in its bird form, and a Kun in its fish form.

She had heard the tale about the Kun-Peng but had never seen it fly as a Peng and knew that she would never be able to swim next with it. Her sea home was much too small to hold such a giant creature, so it only lived inside her dreams, gazing at her with intense silver eyes.

The next day, the wind seemed to howl, and the rain beat down relentlessly. This disappointed her greatly as she wanted to go up to the surface but didn't want to get caught in the sting of the rain. The Yellow Sea became hazy due to the downpour scattering the soil that was carried into it.

She wondered out loud "Will the rain ever stop?"

Her friend, the blue mermaid, who didn't mind the cold as much as she did; went to the surface, smelled the air, and looked at the rain clouds. She predicted that it would not stop anytime soon.

That night, the orange mermaid dreamt the same dream, but the rain didn't stop. The small sea seemed to grow as the rain continued to fall.

Humans were dying as the rivers and oceans began to flood. One day, the orange mermaid saw a black-haired man's body approaching the seafloor, she grabbed him under his arms and tried to swim up to the surface as fast as she can but there seemed to be no end to the water.

While she struggled to swim upwards, the Mermaid Queen's voice spoke in her mind.

'Ai, Ai. You must stop now. Your efforts are valiant, but the water extends to the surface world. You cannot save the human. It is out of your hands.'

"What?... The rain. This is all because of the rain, isn't it? Your Majesty."

'Yes. I have spoken with the Dragon Kings. They are not responsible for the rain. We believe the Gods are behind the never-ending rain.'

"But… My Queen…Why are they doing this?"

'That we do not know.'

The solemnity of the Mermaid Queen's voice struck something within her core. Ai released the human from her hands, and he began to fall.

Suddenly, a golden ball of light flew down as if it were lightening and surrounded the human man as the light began to take the form of a winged being.

Ai's midnight blue eyes widened in shock and she began to swim down towards the winged being made of light as he began to materialize into a silver haired angel wearing white robes holding the human man in his arms.

Something about him was familiar, although she was sure she had never seen the man before in her life. He was incredibly handsome, and his white feathered wings were beautiful. Those silver eyes… They were just as stern and intense as those of the Kun in her dreams.

When Ai regained her voice, she asked "Who…Who are you?"

The man spoke with an intense coldness that matched those of his silver eyes. "I am Kǎi, an angel of the Nine Heavens."

For some reason, part of Ai was expecting him to introduce himself as Kun. His light was gold like the Kun-Peng and although he was a being of the sky, here he was, floating in the sea, as if the water had no weight on him.

Kǎi continued to speak "Why did you let this man go? I saw how you struggled to swim as high as you could and yet, you abandoned your resolve just as you abandoned the man."

Ai looked down in shame and said "The… The Mermaid Queen said he couldn't be saved. …Besides, even as we speak, he has no home to return to!" She yelled her last words with frustration. Who was he to judge her anyways?!

"You are an angel, are you not? You could've easily saved him. You are a messenger of the Gods. If you are so concerned with human life, why are they flooding the surface world, and drowning humans?!"

Kǎi's stern look never faltered, even as she yelled at him.

"A human has dared to mistreat the Thunder God and incur his wrath. He asked the Rain God to pour as much rain as he could. If the human does not repent, all of mankind will continue to suffer."

"What?!" Ai put her hand on her side and held her palm open with the other. "And what do the other Gods think of this?"

It didn't seem fair that so many humans had to die for one human's transgression.

The angel closed his eyes and said, "It is not my place to say."

Ai shook an accusing finger at him "Then you have no right to speak to me."

She turned and began to angrily swim away, regardless of his appearance or his status, she couldn't tolerate his attitude.

"Wait."

She simply ignored him. With a simple flap of his wings, Kǎi quickly sped through the water and blocked her.

"What are you doing? Shouldn't you deal with the human instead of swimming around here?" Ai asked in a peeved tone.

"My apologies. I should not have spoken to you like that."

Ai blinked. Considering his demeanor, she didn't expect an apology.

Kǎi raised the human in his arms for emphasis. "This human was my charge. I was his guardian angel, but I was not allowed to intervene in his fate… I suppose I was bitter because you were able to intervene while I couldn't.

Her expression changed into that of sympathy. "Oh. And, I'm sorry. For not saving him and for yelling at you earlier." Ai lowered her head "…I was pretty tense."

"Don't be. You did what you could, given the circumstances." Kǎi raised his arms higher and the dead male floated and was covered in golden light. When the golden light dissipated, all there was left was the man's soul and it flew up high.

Ai opened her mouth in surprise as she witnessed the sight. "Where is his soul headed to?"

"It will ascend towards the cycle of rebirth. He was a good man. He will definitely be reborn into a better life."