The Angel of the Deep

I didn't move at first. But after a moment, I took the seat.

He gestured to the table. "I made the pie myself, you know. Not many angels bake, but I've had… time to learn."

I raised an eyebrow. "You bake?"

He shrugged one shoulder. "It calms the storms. Besides, everyone talks better after sugar."

My hand moved before I could stop it, wrapping around the cold can of cola. I took a sip — and damn, it hit the spot after everything I'd been through.

He watched me. Not in a creepy way. Just… calm. Like he already knew what I was about to say.

I set the can down. "Okay, so… who are you? You said I wasn't dead, but then why is an angel sitting across from me? Or are you here to finally take me to heaven? Don't you think it's a little late after I already drowned?"

The corner of his mouth tugged up, not quite a smile. "Slow down, sunshine. I know you've got questions stacked up to the ceiling, but I can only answer a few right now."

"That's not very helpful."

"Didn't say I was here to help."

I narrowed my eyes. "You lured me here with a pie and cola."

"And it worked," he said, raising his can in a toast. "So technically, I'm two for two."

I didn't laugh.

He raised an eyebrow. "I don't bite."

Right. That's definitely what someone suspicious would say.

"You're not going to tell me where I am, are you?"

He smiled faintly. "Look around. You already know."

I paused. The lake. The tree. The breeze that smelled like wildflowers. I did know this place.

"This was in my dream. The first night I came to the sea world."

He nodded. "Except this time, you're awake, its not a dream anymore. And the couple you saw holding a child in that dream — those were your parents, Elara. And the baby was you."

"No… no, that can't be. My parents? How could you possibly know that? Are they alive? Did they also breathe in the sea? Can I meet them?"

He didn't speak. Just looked at me with that sorrow in his eyes. And I knew.

I would never see them.

My throat tightened. "That's not fair. I was raised by my grandmother — I never even got to know them. You drag me to some ocean realm full of monsters, show me visions of parents I never met, and now you tell me they're gone?"

My voice cracked. "Who are you? Why bring me here?"

He reached forward, gently taking my hand in his. "I know, child. I know how much this hurts. I know how unfair it all is. You never asked for this."

He brushed away a tear I hadn't realised had fallen from my eyes.

"You were never dead, sunshine. This place — this was your true home. Where you were born. A lot happened, and you were sent to another world. But she never forgot you. She waited. And when the time came, she brought you back — to the sea, where you belong."

"She…?" I whispered.

"She is the one I serve. I may act differently on the outside, but know this — I have always been on her side… and now, yours. I am the Guardian of the Sea. Some call me the Angel of the Deep."

My breath caught. "So… you're really from heaven?"

I sat up straighter. "My grandmother. How is she? Is she okay? Does she miss me?"

He smiled gently. "Yes. She misses you every day. But she's happy, Elara. She's proud of you."

I nodded, wiping my face quickly. "So… how did I even get here? You moved me?"

"I call it divine magic. I like the old terms."

I squinted at him. "So why now? Why are you here?"

"Because she chose you," he said. "And I was sent to give you a message."

I froze. "…She?"

He didn't explain. Just slid the drink closer again, like I needed more strength for what came next.

"You've been caught in a tide older than the sea itself. It's time someone warned you — before others get to you first."

"Others?" 

He stood. Calm, elegant, like gravity didn't affect him.

"Be careful, Elara. You won't always see the strings… but you're already tied to them."

He walked to the door.

"Wait!" I jumped up. "What's your name?"

He paused, looking back over his shoulder.

"…Osvor."

And then his wings stretched, catching the wind like they were part of the sky itself.

He began to lift, and I ran outside, calling after him. "What does that mean?! Why do I need to be careful? And how do I get back to the sea?!"

He looked down once more. "Just like this, sunshine."

And with the flick of his hand — no spell, no dramatic flash like in those fantasy novels — the world around me vanished.

And I was back.

In my room.

With Kaelen screeching at me like a mother octopus.

✧𓂃⋆༶⋆𓂃✧

"WHERE — THE KELP — WERE YOU?!"

That was the first thing I heard after coming back to my room.

Kaelen was pacing with his fins flared and tail lashing like he was about to summon a council of angry seahorses.

"I looked everywhere! I even poked the closet with a broom! What if you were eaten? Or cursed? Or worse — abducted by surface people with nets and snack cravings?!"

I looked below. My hand was still clutching the half-eaten pie. It was Still warm.

"And why," he hissed, eyes narrowing, "do you smell like smoke and cinnamon and weird clouds?"

"I… went for a walk?" I offered.

Kaelen gasped. "A walk? A walk seriously?! You vanished. Disappeared like a soap bubble. Poof. Gone."

The cola can was on the floor beside me, a little dented. The fizz was still bubbling out of it.

"Okay, maybe not just a walk," I muttered.

He paused, eyes scanning me. Then he frowned. "Something's different."

"Nothing's different."

He pointed. "Your aura. You're glowing. Your sigil is glowing again."

I looked down at my shoulder. The tattoo mark was shimmering all golden.

I tucked my arm behind me. "Just… dream stuff."

Kaelen made an exaggerated fish-choking noise. "Dream stuff?! Are you being haunted by desserts now?"

I sat down on the bed and took another bite of the pie, mostly to shut him up. Gods, it really was good.

He hovered nearby, eyeing me like I'd turn into sea-foam.

"I met someone," I admitted.

Kaelen stiffened. "A merman?"

"No. An angel. Maybe. He said he was the guardian of the sea."

"…Oh."

I expected more yelling. But Kaelen just floated down beside me, and said nothing.

"And he told me not to tell anyone."

"So naturally, you told me?"

"I figured sea pets don't count."

"I do count. and I am not a pet" He flicked his tail right at my face.

I smiled a little. Then stopped. "He said... strange things. About tides, and warnings. Like I'm part of something older than the ocean."

"...Did he mention if that something comes with an instruction manual?"

"No. Just cryptic sentences and free pie. But do you know him?"

"I haven't seen him myself but I have heard that guardians descend occasionally in the sea or other realms. Some people believe it wasn't like this from the start, the Gods could descend freely when they wanted and the guardians relayed communications and blessings from above to here. But no one knows what exactly happened."

We sat in silence for a moment.

Then Kaelen said, very softly, "Don't disappear again. Not ever like that."

I looked over at him. "Okay."

✧𓂃⋆༶⋆𓂃✧

Something had changed. I could feel it in my bones. This wasn't just a sea of dreams anymore. Something real had stirred. And things were about to get crazy.

✧𓂃⋆༶⋆𓂃✧✧𓂃⋆༶⋆𓂃✧✧𓂃⋆༶⋆𓂃✧