Kawaii-Cherri: Somehow I didn't realise that I literally left it on a cliffhanger, in all senses of the words. I'm so sorry! I hope this chapter meets any expectations you may have! I can't wait for the spice. I've not written any yet…. Yet.

Chapter Eighteen – True colours

Elspeth felt bile rise in her throat as she watched Sebastian drop out of sight. She slapped her hand to her mouth to stop herself from being sick. Is it even possible to survive a fall from this height? If he even missed the rocks… Oh fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck, she thought, trying not to hyperventilate. 'Fucking idiot!' She screamed at the top of her voice, looking between the edge of the cliff and the monsters that were swarming towards her. 'Fucking, stupid, attractive, idiot!' She howled, feeling her tears stream down her cheeks. 'Am I really considering this?!' She shouted as she lamented in her situation. 'Okay, okay, breathe,' she said, trying to calm herself down and make a rational decision. In reality, there was no rational decision. Her choices were; attempt to fight her way through the horde of monsters with nothing but a phone or… jump off the cliff.

-x-

Sebastian hit the water, heels first; pain ricocheted up his legs. His arms were crossed over his chest and he plummeted through the deep water. His transformation took over, tearing through his clothing taking merely a minute to completely change his form. Breathing in deeply he looked around, the waves were high and rough and the current underneath wasn't much better. The dark waters surrounded him, hiding dangers. This is insane. My toxin is twice as potent in this form, he thought in a panic as he looked around, noting that thankfully, there weren't a lot of rocks to dodge when jumping. Changing form healed his body, so any scratches or impact injuries vanished and made things easier, though it took a lot of energy to do so.

He surfaced and looked up at the cliff. The wind and rain were making things hard but he was sure that he would be able to see the moment that Elspeth jumped. 'Please, please, please… Elsie… Trust me,' he said, ignoring the water that sloshed over his head, it didn't bother him; his buoyancy was stable and he could breathe just as easily under the surface. He had between three to five seconds before she hit the water once she fell. Sebastian couldn't risk it, he had to move now. He dove down as deep as he dared and then swam full pelt towards the surface, breaching the waves.

Thanks to some sort of miracle, he had timed it to perfection. He was about twenty foot in the air when he caught her; Elsie hit him like a dead weight. She had passed out and there was a large scratch up the side of her head, disappearing into her hairline. She had truly waited until the last minute before either falling or jumping off the cliff. That solved the immediate problem he had, what with her discovering his secret. They hit the water, heavily, Sebastian taking most of the impact from the waves and they fell deep under the surface. Elsie's mammalian reflex had kicked in and she was completely limp in his arms. He held her carefully, knowing that any touch to her skin and he could kill her.

Sebastian now had a more serious problem, Elsie was bleeding, unconscious and there was no possible way he could carry her to shore in this current. The waves were too large and he wouldn't be able to protect her from possible attacks if he couldn't see what was going on. Sebastian looked around and recognised the area they were in; there was a cliffside cave not far and within there was an underwater inner tunnel that led to a small beached outcrop. He began to swim, as fast as he could towards what he knew to be safety.

-x-

There was a rhythmic pain thumping on her back which jolted her into consciousness, as if someone was hitting her between the shoulder blades. Elspeth coughed heavily, leaning onto her side, water erupted from her mouth; her throat burned in response and she could taste an overwhelming amount of salt. The thumping stopped, along with the pain and she heard a loud splash. She wheezed and her mind swam into focus, the stone was hard and gritty under her face and fingers but when she opened her eyes, there was almost complete darkness around her. Reaching out with a hand, she could feel the slimy residue of seaweed and sharp edges on the stone, where the fuck am I? She thought, fear pulsing through her.

Shivering, she sat up stiffly, looking around in desperation but seeing nothing but darkness. 'Oh, fuck,' she whispered as she wiped her face, trying to be calm but feeling anything but. There was water lapping around her thighs, the ledge she was sitting on seemed to be sloping and covered in sand. Her clothes were heavy and she was freezing. 'Where am I?' She wondered, pulling her legs up to her chest. Breathe, just breathe. I need to figure out what's going on before I burst into tears, she thought, trying to be rational.

She felt around with her hands and found the long edge of the outcrop, the ceiling; which was a foot above her head and the wall was only a foot behind her. Listening carefully, she made some mental calculations. I think this place is about four foot high, three foot wide and the far wall is about six feet away, going by the sounds of the water, she thought. Gingerly, she leaned forward to look into the water, not that she could really see anything at all. There were the hints of light here and there, a little bit of glowing algae but nothing that her eyes could use to her advantage. How did I even get in here? She panicked. Oh, fuck… did I get dragged in here by a current? Or some monster? Is there even a way out that I can reach? She thought as she sat back. 'Wait,' she voiced out loud.'B-Bazz?' She called out. 'Bazzie! Are you here?' She said, trying to not panic and failing. Where is he? Did he bring me here? Fuck, what if he's drowned?!

With a shaking hand, she searched for her phone; when she had upgraded, Elspeth had decided to go for a waterproof model but she was pretty sure that it wouldn't have survived what had happened. She found it and tried clicking the unlock button on the side. Nothing worked. She hit it a couple of times in desperation, 'come on, come on, you, stupid piece of shi-' she was almost in tears. Elspeth pulled off the gloves she wore with her teeth, before pressing the button frantically; it weakly lit up and she tried to use it to see around her. She was a little off in her calculations and the far wall was closer than she expected but it didn't really matter in the long run. She cast the light around her quickly and caught sight of something in the water, briefly. Elspeth yelped and moved the phone back to where she saw the… thing… but when she moved the light to where it came from, there was nothing there; only lapping water against the cave wall.

She could have sworn she saw something. 'Please, say I'm imagining things,' she whispered as she rubbed her eyes. She hissed in pain as she felt stinging where her nail caught something near her eyebrow. Elspeth touched her head and felt the gash, it was painful and she came more aware of the throbbing at her temple. Pulling down her hood, she felt better now that her head wasn't surrounded by freezing, cold cloth. Slowly, she was beginning to remember what happened. She had stepped back to do what Sebastian did and leap off the cliff when she had been hit in the side of the head by a large bat and stumbled off the side instead. Everything after that was blank.

Elspeth's phone light went out with the auto-lock and she jolted. 'No! No! No, no, no, no!' She said in a panic, hitting her phone again. It eventually lit up and she cast it about herself again, looking around and that's when she spotted… it. With a scream, Elspeth almost dropped her phone. Shaking, she watched as the thing moved towards her. It had striped, dark skin. Silver reflective eyes, framed by wet black hair and it opened its large mouth, showing what looked like rows of shark teeth. Her scream echoed in the small cave and it surged toward her, quickly.

'I-' It was almost like it spoke.

Her movement kicked up waves, sloshing over the creature. It turned and she could see some sort of large dorsal fin along its back. 'Stay back, you fucking monster!' Elspeth snapped, 'you come near me and I'll make you fucking regret it!'

It disappeared under the water and reappeared a lot closer, opening its mouth again like it was going to talk. 'Fuck, no!' She screamed and lashed out with her foot, her trainer managing to crack it in the jaw. She moved as far up the ledge as she could, the light being thrown everywhere in her panic. Her spare hand fumbled for the loose rocks she found lobbed them with as much strength as she could muster with her freezing muscles.

It moaned and moved back, out the range of her legs as it held its mouth. 'Okay… I deserved that,' it said, almost with a lisp. It groaned again and reached into its mouth, pulling out a tooth that she had knocked loose. Stones plopped around it and its tail fin rose out the water, creating a large fan like shield. Elspeth froze when it spoke and held one of the stones tightly in her palm, staring at the creature. The light clicked out and Elspeth let out a sob.

'D-Don't hurt me,' she almost begged, feeling her body stiffen in fear. 'P-Please,' she added.

It seemed to chuckle, doing nothing but raising Elspeth's heart rate and in the dark she heard the swish of water. 'Believe me… that's the last thing I want,' it said, the voice so much closer than she expected.

Elspeth reached for her phone again, using its flickering screen light to see in front of her. The creature was closer this time, somehow wearing an expression of sadness. 'W-What are you?' She squeaked out, tucking her legs up onto the ledge, ready to kick out at a moment's notice. 'Le-Leave me alone!'

'I can't-' it replied.

She interrupted the creature, 'if you've found me, you must have seen Bazz!' Elspeth said as the thought hit her. 'Where is he? What have you done with him?' She demanded as she picked up another stone, causing its tail to raise again. Its fin barely fit in the cave and she could see the pattern along the skin, mottled and stripey; somehow familiar. Elspeth narrowed her eyes, 'where is my Sebastian?!'

Again, it chuckled weakly. The phone darkened and as she stared, its bioluminescence began to light up, revealing the shape and length of its body. Sparkling dots pinpricked along the ridge of the tail and long lines scattered across the fin. Slowly, it lowered its tail and Elspeth raised her stone warily. It held up a hand and she spotted the webbing between its fingers, with a scrutinizing eye, Elspeth began to look at the little details. There was the glimmer of a ring in its lip, along with the running sparkle of a chain in what she assumed was its ear. Looking deep into its eyes, recognition hit as it wore a half smile, almost embarrassed.

Elspeth gasped and dropped the stone. Her voice was weak and stuttered and he could smell her fear and panic. 'Am I dying? Hallucinating?'

'No,' it said, softly. It moved closer to her, slowly. 'It's me,' it whispered. 'Sebastian.'

She let out a sob and clasped her hand against her mouth. 'Oh… fuck,' she whimpered. 'Sebastian?' She repeated, feeling numb and yet her body shook; either in fear or cold, she didn't know.

He smiled weakly and nodded, water cascading down from his hair. 'Yes,' he said, his teeth making it a little harder than usual to be clear. 'Hello, Elsie,' he added.

Elspeth stared at him, shaking. 'W-What's going on?' She whispered in reply, still trying to wrap her head around it all.

'It's pretty much what it looks like,' Sebastian said and then swam back as she leaned forward to touch him. 'No!' He snapped, making her jump. Her eyes had adjusted to the dark with the help of his bioluminescence and she could see almost everything, though not in great detail. 'Sorry,' he said, staying out at a distance so that she couldn't touch him. 'You can't… you mustn't touch me,' he panicked.

She gave him a questioning look but lowered her hand, 'sorry,' she whispered. She had gone to touch him without thinking. Her mind reeled; Sebastian is… a… she thought. I don't know what he is…

Sebastian sighed and lowered his hands, 'No. I'm sorry,' he said quietly. 'I know your mind must be reeling and this is a lot but you must not touch me.'

Elspeth tilted her head, 'okay, once I've wrapped my head around the fact that you're… Sebastian… You're saying I can't touch you, just like when you're… normal?' She questioned.

His next words were almost painful to say. 'The thing is, Elsie, the reason I can't stand people touching my skin isn't because I have an aversion or some sort of mental problem in regards to it. It's because my skin creates a poisonous residue,' he revealed.

'Poison?' Elspeth repeated, confused. 'What do you mean?'

He chuckled bitterly, 'since I was a teenager. When I became this… thing,' he said as he raised his tail to the surface, curling it up under the water like a snake so that he could fit while in the cave. Elspeth stared at the glittering lights that ran along his skin and fins; objectively, they were beautiful, but Sebastian wore nothing but a look of disdain. 'I'm literally like some… tree-frog. Poisonous to the touch,' he muttered.

'Always?' She replied, 'so you've just… had to avoid people touching your skin? Because, you could make them sick?'

With a shake of his head, he spoke words that sent fear throughout Elspeth's entire body. 'With a single touch, I would kill you.'

Silence descended and he could see her simply staring at him. There was nothing but the sound of the water for a good five minutes before Elspeth seemed to gather her thoughts and speak. Except, she didn't speak, she leaned forward and splashed a large wave of water over him. She then threw her phone, hitting him in the chest. 'You bastard!' She shouted.

He caught her phone easily, ignoring the pain and winced as the water hit him in the face. 'I'm sorry! I took every precaution-'

'You think I give a fuck about that?!' Elspeth screamed at him as she lashed out with her foot, causing him to swim back as much as he could. 'That was the reason why you couldn't fucking touch me? You would kill me?!'

'Elsie, I didn't want to-'

She paused for a moment, 'oh, thank you,' she said sarcastically before she began to kick again, hoping to hurt him. 'You lying piece of shi-'

'Demetrius-'

'Demetrius fucking knew as well?' She said angrily. 'What the fuck, Bazz?! Are you fucking serious?! I jumped off a fucking cliff because of you!'

'Elsie,' he said, holding up his hands again, trying to get her to just calm down a little. It worked a bit and she breathed heavily in her anger but stopped lashing out at him. 'Elsie… I'm sorry. I couldn't just tell you…' he said weakly. 'Please, understand. The only other person who knows about me is literally, Demetrius!'

She cleared her throat and shook her head, wiping her face with the back of her hand. 'Y-your mother doesn't know?' She asked in surprise. 'Not even Robin? Maru? Abigail?'

Sebastian shook his head, 'no. Nobody else,' he confirms. 'Only Demetrius and only because he was the one that developed the antidote and the only person I trusted when this happened.'

Elspeth went silent for a moment and tears filled her eyes, 'then… why would you risk everything… everything for me? Why would you risk hurting me?' She asked as she wrapped her arms around herself, feeling confused about the entire situation.

He looked ashamed and confident that she wasn't going to touch him, he moved closer to her. 'I… couldn't help myself. There's just something about you. I had to try. I had to… get to know you and-' he sighed, looking away from where she was glaring at him.

Once again, there was silence and her posture relaxed. With a deep breath in, Elspeth tried to calm herself. 'I don't care that you're "poisonous", Sebastian. I care that you felt that you couldn't tell me,' Elspeth said, quietly.

'How are you even supposed to have a conversation like this?' He asked. 'Oh, by the way, I'm incredibly toxic in the literal sense and oh, the reason I can't actually touch you is because I would kill you if I did,' he added, trying to alleviate the atmosphere.

She scowled at him, 'well, you preferably mention something before you get your incredibly patient and understanding girlfriend to jump off a fucking cliff!' She snapped. 'Y'know, seeing as you could perhaps, accidentally, fucking touch her!'

Sebastian's heart fluttered at hearing Elspeth call herself his "girlfriend", it was a positive sign. 'I know, I've acted like an idiot,' he muttered, trying to keep her phone above the water. 'I don't expect you to forgive me, Elsie… just please, let me get you home,' he said.

Elspeth sighed and sniffed heavily, wiping her nose with her wet sleeve and defeating the purpose of wiping it in the first place. 'So, despite it all, despite the fact that you would literally kill me,' she repeated, the feeling was strange, it was like she couldn't process the fact. 'For some reason, you continued to interact with me and play with my feelings-'

'No, Elsie! That's not true!' He said as he got as close as he dared. 'I was selfish. I just wanted your attention. I like your attention. You make me feel normal and, and I crave that feeling,' he mumbled. 'I crave you.' Elspeth blushed heavily and Sebastian was glad that he could see it despite the lack of light. 'I wasn't ever trying to play with your feelings. If anything, I've done nothing but manipulate myself into thinking that anything we have could be normal,' he sighed. 'I thought you would get frustrated with it all and just end whatever this was.'

Unintentionally, she let out a small smile. 'You didn't realise how stubborn I am,' Elspeth mused.

'You are on another level,' he replied, making her giggle a little. The sound of the water was peaceful, and created a nice lull in the pause. Sebastian sighed and broke the silence. 'Demetrius and I were having almost daily arguments about you,' he said as he ran his hand through his hair like he always did when he was flustered. 'When I heard about your blood results I tried to keep a distance but you… you were completely enamouring,' he shook his head and looked at his hand. 'I couldn't do it, I tried-'

Elspeth realised something and sat up, 'hold on. You said that Demetrius gave you my results? What results?' She asked as Demetrius had only done one test and the outcome was positive. 'Why were you trying to avoid me then?'

Sebastian gave her a look of confusion, 'because… you're extremely susceptible,' he said simply. 'I touch you, you die,' he said, bluntly, wondering what the expression on her face was.

'What?' She said, just as confused. 'No, that's not right. Bazz, if we're thinking of the same test, y'know the one where he tested my blood against some sort of poison residue… Oh, Yoba! That was you! You're that damn fish! And that means the second time, I actually saw you-' Elspeth said in shock as puzzle pieces began to slot into place and then realised that she was getting off track. '-No wait, back up. The blood results,' she said shaking her head and looking at him. 'If it's the test against whatever toxin Demetrius has in his lab, then, I'm non-reactive.'

'What?' Sebastian said, feeling his mind spiral. 'Wha-What do you mean?' He asked, moving forward a little.

Elspeth tilted her head at him, 'my blood barely reacted to the toxin. I'm, for all intents and purposes, immune. For the lack of a better word,' she said.

Sebastian seemed to sink for a moment, almost as if he deflated; a weight leaving his shoulders. Then he surged forward, as close as he dared. 'What? Are you sure? You're completely sure? Because Demetrius said-'

'He told me that I was non-reactive,' Elspeth stated, her eyes drifting from Sebastian. 'He lied to you,' she said as she looked back at him. 'For some reason… he didn't want us to get closer.'

Tears began to swim in Sebastian's eyes and he placed her phone down on the sand before he swam back a foot, running his hands over his face. 'He lied,' he stated. Sebastian hit the water with an open hand in frustration, spinning himself with the motion. 'Of course he did! Because he only sees me as some sort of fucking monster! Ever since this fucking curse appea-' Lost in his own anger, he hadn't heard Elspeth slip into the water. Her slender arms wrapped around his shoulders from the side, her fingers running over his skin without fear. Sebastian almost stopped breathing with her touch and he looked down to see her, she smiled softly at him. His tail moved back and forth, creating ripples as he swam to keep them afloat.

A grin washed over her features as she rested her head on his shoulder, her fingertips tightening on his scales. 'Does it matter?' She asked, as she reached up and gently touched his cheek. 'I'm still here,' she whispered.

So it happened. She knows. Dun dun duuuuun.

Let me know what you think!

Be well. Stay safe.