Chapter 21 - Deep-Sea Prisoner

"All who dare disturb the peaceful sea!"

A voice rang in Phos's head. It was neither beautiful nor painful to hear, but rather silky, androgynous, and carefree.

He opened his eyes.

The last thing he remembered was plunging into the cold water, hugging Pyre as if he were a lifeboat.

How embarrassing… Phos sighed.

…

Sighed??

Frigid water rushed to fill every crevice of the Lord, running across his skin, integrating with his clothes. But Phos could still breathe.

Testing the waters, Phos called out for help.

"Pyre? Pyre!"

His voice echoed under the sea.

Having confirmed his breathing, Phos floated with a much more relaxed expression. As the Lord of Light, he didn't really like the water, but he could stand it. At most, he'd be electrocuted… but this was Anima Mundi, where Lords were invincible!

Seeing the clear reflection of light far away on the water's surface, Phos couldn't help but think of Pyre. The Lord of Fire… would he be alright? Didn't the element 'water' contradict 'fire' the most?

Would Pyre be extinguished underwater?

A bit worried, Phos began searching his surroundings. Only deep waters surrounded him, no Pyre in sight. Wiggling his arms in an attempt to swim, Phos struggled in a random direction.

"You who dares encroach upon my sacred territory." The smooth voice echoed again, closer this time.

Phos stopped moving and glanced in what he presumed to be 'up.'

"Are you not curious to know how you can breathe?"

"..."

Phos couldn't answer with 'not really' ; he somehow felt that he'd hurt the voice's owner's pride.

Not receiving the response they wanted, a faint huff reverberated through the waters. A cascade of bubbles swarmed up, enveloping Phos so he couldn't see anything. The Light Lord brought a hand to his face, shielding himself from the barrage of foam, and when it was over…

Before him, a tall mermaid (merman? Phos couldn't tell) met his eyes. They had long, wavy, cerulean hair, seaweed-green irises, and where their ears should have been, small blue fins twitched instead.

Phos tore his eyes away from the stranger's fierce gaze. He felt something velvety tickling his side and instinctively reached out to push it away. When it didn't budge, Phos looked at it, and he jolted a little in surprise when he realised it was a long tail wrapped around his waist. Dyed with ombre colours of purple, blue, and green, it really matched the merperson well.

The merperson was tall. His upper body looked to be about the same height as Pyre's, but his tail had to be at least a couple metres. The fins billowed like transparent curtains around Phos, making the Lord squirm uncomfortably.

"You." The merperson spoke again, bubbles escaping their mouth with every word. "How do you know Pyre?"

They shoved something at Phos—which he quickly came to find was Pyre himself, albeit unconscious. Phos hugged Pyre, taking him from the strange merperson of the seas.

"Pyre is…" Phos's voice tapered off.

What exactly was Pyre to him? Not a nemesis, not a friend. An acquaintance? But that made them sound so distant.

"Pyre is….." Phos tried again. He still couldn't come up with a proper description. "Pyre…."

"I know Pyre is Pyre. How did you two end up here?" The merperson brought a talon-like hand to his chin, seemingly in thought. "And how is your hair glowing? Who are you?"

So many questions. Phos tightened his grip around Pyre. A cloud of agitation stirred in the Light Lord's stomach.

He didn't like this merperson much.

"Ah. I suppose you'd like to know who I am as well." They snapped their fingers, a cheery expression overwriting their previously scrutinising stare.

Phos could still feel fierce eyes drilling a hole into him.

"Nice to meet you. I am Hydor, the Lord of Water."

Time froze for a second.

The Lord of Water? Examining the merman again, Phos could somewhat assemble all of the pieces in his mind to make a slight understanding of what the Lord had said. It was hard to believe, though, that he had just stumbled upon yet another ancient Lord.

And a powerful one at that.

"Who are you?" Hydor repeated, brushing their fingers over Phos's shoulder.

He trembled under the sudden touch, shaking it off. The Lord of Water furrowed his brows.

"Phos. The Lord of Light." Hardening his gaze, Phos glanced up at the Lord of Water. "Could you… please… help us get back to Eos?"

"Eos? That's where you're from?" At some point, Hydor had started playing with Phos's long, shimmering hair. Phos worried that they would accidentally cut it off. "But that's so far away."

Gently tugging his hair away from Hydor's talons, Phos averted his eyes. "Where are we?"

"Hydroedessa." Dissatisfied, Hydor yanked another glowing lock of Phos's hair. They warned the Light Lord with a glare. "This is my land."

Phos frowned, tilting his head in resistance. Just because Hydor was the ruler of the sea, and had been on Earth since its existence, and possibly existed in other planets of the Solar System... didn't mean that they could do whatever they wanted to him!

"Please let go of my hair." Phos's voice turned blunt. "It hurts when you pull it."

"Tell me why it's glowing."

"You're being unreasonable."

"Then come with me. I'll stop touching your hair."

Where could the Lord of Water possibly even bring them to? To Phos, it seemed like there was nothing but miles upon miles of empty water.

Just as he was about to voice his complaints, two scaly arms brought themselves around Phos and Pyre, and Hydor held the two Lords like sacks of rice. Before Phos could say anything, the mer-Lord propelled them at dangerous speeds to infinity and beyond. The sudden sensation of flying caused Phos to clench his stomach in fear.

He really didn't like this Lord.

After a long period of being tossed around by the water currents, Phos closed his eyes and passed out.