Caught

>>Enri

When I went back to the training ground I saw something cute.

Nana and Rose had already started teaching Mavis but she seemed a little uncomfortable. I found it a little odd because she seems very relaxed around me but right now she's turning her head constantly as if trying to find someone.

It made me smile. She sort of looked like a lost kid.

I jumped down from the corridor and made my way into the training ground when Mavis looked back once again to look for someone. But the moment her eyes landed on me a look of relief followed by a warm smile spread across her face.

Oh?!

It hit me immediately. She was looking for me.

For some reason it made me feel a little light-hearted. It was definitely cute and I walked over to them to personally help her out. Plus, I had a mystery I needed to solve as well, about her origin and species.

"Is Nana and Rose not good enough," I stopped by them, "You seem distracted."

"N-no!" She replied, "I just thought you'd be teaching me…"

"Well, I will be." I extended my hand towards Rose to take the toy sword from her, "The rest will guide you when I'm not here."

"Really?" I saw her eyes glisten in excitement.

"Yes," Nana and Rose quietly retreated back and began to whisper something to each other.

"So you'll be teaching me most of the time, right?" She jumped towards me in anticipation and I patted her head.

"Yes," I smiled, "I'll be here with you most of the time." I then turned her towards the training targets, "So get ready." I raised my sword up as well and faced the straw dolls, "I'm a strict teacher."

"Yes!!!"

***

The sweet melody seeped through the forest. It was as if it was travelling naturally around the place, just like the wind makes its way around nature.

Today, there is less pain in her voice. Rather it seemed a little excited, perhaps she was happy about something. Nonetheless, the lullaby was doing its job.

I sat on the ground wondering things today that I didn't think about before at all. Like, is the person signing even human?

I don't know why I never thought about it before but the moment I deciphered that it might not be a human I got my answer. This is the kind of melody that just draws you in and puts you to sleep. A power like that doesn't belong to a human.

So? Is it a siren? It would only make sense if it was one but why would a siren be living in human territory?

They are rare, they tend to stay away from human territories altogether but since on dry lands they have legs, they look just like humans and no one would ever suspect anything.

As I listened to the song I spent my time thinking about things more. Things I had to solve when suddenly loud yelling caught me off guard.

"You ungrateful child!!!" It was the voice of an older woman screaming, "Come out!!!" The singing had stopped immediately and that alerted me.

I stood up and ran towards the river that was just a few steps away. Summoning a magic spell I lit up the space with magical fire.

Just then someone dipped their head deep into the water while the woman who was screaming looked at me. The same woman I was assigned to investigate. Mavis's mother, Heather.

"You!" Her eyes went wide when she saw me, "What are you doing here?"

"I was patrolling the area," I began to walk towards her, "But what are you doing here?" I looked over her as I stood in front of her, "Maam"

She wasn't intimidated, "I'm looking for my daughter." She replied, "She's missing."

"Oh?" I turned my head to look around the place but nothing seemed out of order, "How long has it been?" When I looked back at her I saw that she was glaring at me.

"It's been a few days." She was scowling at me as if she knew I was a culprit.

"Did you report it to the local knights' authority?"

"I have," She said, "But they can't seem to find her for some reason."

Oh? So the report has already been submitted.

"Why are you looking for her here?" I brought the fire closer to her face, "In the middle of the forest, past midnight."

"I just had a feeling," Her gaze wouldn't leave me, "I might find her here." Her eyes were so wide they were unnerving me.

"Well," I remained confident, "You should leave for today."

"Why?" The rest of the forest was deadly silent for some reason.

"I've already scouted the place." I lied, "There's no one here except you and me, along with wild animals."

She quietly stared at me some more, "..." Then finally turned her face away from me and that sort of came as a relief. She looked at the river that flowed softly with no sign of disruption in it at all, "Fine."

She then turned and began to leave. I, on the other hand, remained in my place as I watched her.

Adding two and two wasn't difficult. If this woman is searching for her daughter here where this is one voice to catch all the attention, it only means Mavis is the Siren. She must have heard her sing and came over.

I clenched my fists, finishing the magic spell and letting darkness surround me once more.

I can't believe it actually took me this long to figure this out.

Of course, Mavis would be the siren. None of my guards were able to find anything about Heather and where she was doing her dealings and getting her stuff from.

It was from her daughter all along.

I put my hand on my head as I felt sort of stupid.

Shit.

It all makes sense. 

Where better than your own child who can create pearls on her own to get some?

I looked back at the river.

Did she get away alright? I saw her dip in the water but I barely even saw her. 

I hope she's okay.

>>Mavis

Shit!! Shit!! Shit!!!

I swam underwater at crazy speed to get out of the place.

I knew a day like this would come when mother would find me. I knew coming to the river was dangerous but I still did it because I had to heal myself. I had to regain all my lost strength so every day I came to lay in the river water for two hours.

I swam far from the place in the direction of the current.

But what I wasn't expecting was seeing Enri there! I knew mother would find me but it wasn't a problem since I can easily swim away and she can't. A siren's ability to swim far exceeds any other being on the planet but why was Captain Enri there!?

Shit!

I hope he didn't see me!

I reached a brighter place and jumped out of the water, onto the ground where I hastily dried my tail so it would turn into legs and I could run away.

I wore a long skirt whenever I came to the river just in case I had to run away like this, so I wouldn't need to worry about clothes but since all my clothes were wet too it was hard to dry myself.

Oh! Come on!!

My heart was pounding at the thought that either mother or Enri would find me here but very frankly, I was more worried about the captain seeing me in this form. Humans aren't welcoming when it comes to any other species and I don't want the captain to hate me!

I don't understand, why was he there in the first place??? Especially in this part of the night!!

I was still drying my tail when I heard movement from the bushes nearby.

I froze and my heart began to pound when I noticed someone was making their way towards me.

Oh no!!

Shit!!