Agreth

"Before I tell you this story, you must promise me something," said Mirabella.

"What promise? What promise?", they urged in unison.

"That you will forever keep it a secret", Mirabella placed the forefinger on her lips.

"We promise, we promise", they urged again, "Tell us the story Aunt Miri, please, please, please."

"Alright. Let me get a sip", she took a sip from the mug. Her gaze became distant like she was looking into a long-past memory. She breathed deeply, her voice became whispery, lower, yet clear.

"I was only seventeen...", she scanned everyone's face to see if they all were attentive. They were. "...when I met him. I always loved the sea. At that time I was completely addicted to the ocean. I used to surf alone. I didn't like human company. I didn't like people chattering on the beach or the boats drinking or partying instead of emerging in the endless beauty of the blue Mediterranean. I loved to swim in the wild waves. I loved to swim in the time of sunrise, sunset, and noon. But what I loved most was the stormy ocean. The raging waves attracted me like nothing else. My parents always were worried and always did everything to stop me. They could not. I was unstoppable. My love for water was unstoppable."

"One summer day, it was a tour from my college, I stole a little boat without the permission of my teachers and all alone started to row in the sea. I went deep in the chest of the blue ocean. Nothing held me back. I could just keep rowing until the end. My life, my family, my friends, my possessions, nothing seemed more important than looking at the beautiful blue. At the sea birds. At the sparkly specs of sunlight crowning the waves. At the foams. At the horizon. At the clouds. The meditative sound of waves crashing over waves was the only thing I wanted to hear. The breeze, the scent, everything was pulling me. After an hour, I noticed the sign of sea storms. The sky changed color, the ocean changed shapes in the mountain of waters. My boat started to shake violently. I was having such an exciting adventure. Laughing from my heart, screaming with joy, and rowing madly. Something really got me on that day!"

"The sky got darker and the wind got stronger. The waves got higher and the ocean was no more Blue. It looked ash. My boat was shaking so much that it threw off to the ocean. I got scared for the first time. I was swimming and sinking, praying for something to hold on to. I fought hard to reach the boat and held the boat finally. I climbed in and settled a little. It was raining sharply. I was looking in surprise at how monstrous my beloved water could be which I loved all my life. The storm got stronger and the boat threw me in the water again. I was swimming and sinking again and I understood that I was sinking deep this time. I lost my breath. I realized that my beloved water would be my death. Fear took the place of love. A deep, dark black started to cover my conscience...Suddenly, something pulled me up into the air. That thing pulled me to the boat. I was still not breathing. Something was placed on my chest and suddenly I started to breathe again. When I opened my eyes I saw a face leaning over me. He had green hair and beautiful, big blue eyes. I noticed his dress. It really looked like the little mermaid's. He placed his hand like organ on my forehead. I started to feel healed and relaxed. I sat. I saw his mermaid-like tail. The color of the tail was a mixture of blue and green, somewhere gold. "Agreth", he said. "I am Agreth. I am the Prince of the sea God Azrech."

"How was his voice?", asked Jane with a childlike curiosity.

"Did he speak English?", Joshua's question.

"Did he have a human-like voice or a machine-like?", asked May.

Mirabella listened to all of their questions. Looked at all of their faces. And smiled. She ignored the questions completely and started from where she was interrupted.

"I am Mirabella. I loved the ocean so much until today. From today water has become a monster to me", I wept while speaking to Agreth. "Do not hate my home, please", he pleaded. I know you for a long time, Mirabella. I saw you swimming. Playing, rowing. I was always there. I loved the way you loved our home.", Agreth said the word 'home' with such deep passion, my heart got softened."

"Then you two became friends?", Ron asked his first question.

"Yes, we became very good friends. I used to come to the ocean every day to meet Agreth. But I did not get into the water anymore. I used to stand near the water and talk to him. He couldn't stay for long. He needed to go under the water after every ten minutes. Soon, he grew tired of it. He said he wanted to talk to me all the time, to be with me all the time. One day, Agreth told me that he could actually take under the ocean. He would take me to his palace and show me their world. He offered me a beautiful green locket. He said it was magical and I would be able to breathe and swim underwater if I wear it, just like Agreth and his kin could. But my water phobia was quite strong. I denied taking the adventure.”

“One day, while we were talking to each other, Agreth asked me to go nearer to him. I told him that I didn’t want to go near water anymore. Agreth kept insisting. “Just come a little closer, no need to touch the water.”, he said in a magical voice. It was the time of sunset. The sky was reddish and the world looked full of magic in the presence of this beautiful sea-god. He looked right at my eyes with those beautiful big ones. “Come closer, Miri. Come to me”. He spread his fin-like hand. I carefully took the last few steps towards the water. I did not touch ocean waves for months now. I was shaking. Partly for my deadly phobia and partly for my old love might arise again. And possibly, a part of me, deep down, was so enchanted by Agreth’s call. I could feel in my chest that he was going to do something wonderful and magical. I got very close to him. He arched his merman body to raise his head towards me. And at that magical moment, in that twilight, Agreth kissed me on the lips. “I love a human. The doom is upon me…”, he whispered. I was speechless. “I have always loved you, was your shadow for a long time. Was there, right beneath you, to protect you whenever necessary”, he kept saying, “I want us to be together, to live a life together…”, he sighed for a moment, “Even if it is a life of dangers, I still choose it, with you.”

“Awww-”, they reacted in unison. And Mirabella sneered at them.

“So romantic, Aunt Miri. But why would a sea-god love yo..”, Jane couldn’t finish her sentence. She was interrupted by the others. Some of them placed their fingers on the lips to hush her.

“Because it does not matter what body you have. Where you are from. What your color is. What your language is or family is. What your origin is. The only thing that matters is”, Mirabella paused for a second and said, “The soul. And anyone can be your soulmate. I was Agreth’s.”

“What is a soul mate?”, Joshua demanded.

“A soul mate is….kind of…more like a soul-friend?”, Mirabella tried to explain and was not satisfied with her explanation.

“Got it, got it.”, Joshua nodded his head like a mature, wise man.

“Ah, stop your questions. Proceed, goddess Miri, the soulmate of sea-god Agreth”, Jane spoke in a royal tone. Mirabella forced herself from laughing and started again.

“I wore the locket. It was the token of our bond. And I overcame the deadly fear and returned to the ocean I always felt home. This time, even more passionately. We traveled to Agreth’s kingdom. He showed me his secret chambers. He showed me his family. He had seven sisters and two brothers. All of them were unworldly beautiful. But I saw Agreth as the most beautiful one. I saw his palace secretly and his family members from far. We played and laughed and sang. Agreth had a beautiful voice when he sang.”

“Why did you see his family from the far?”, May is quite annoyed.

“Because he was a Prince of sea-god and I was a human. Sea gods were not allowed to be with any other creatures than their own kind. Humans were considered to be the lowest for them. They thought they were superior. It was not a written law but it was followed for thousands of years. The truth was that thousands of years ago, sea-gods were allowed to be with humans but a tragic war between the two kins changed the history.”, Mirabella continued.

“My traveling time under the water lengthened. I almost got caught by my family and friends. And Agreth almost got caught by one of his sisters. But our love grew stronger. The many adventures we had were the most precious things we had in our life. We never wanted to part. After six months, Agreth told me something very strange. He wanted to turn me into a sea-goddess so that I could be in his world forever. This actually disappointed me but I still agreed. I was hated, bullied, and criticized by my family and relatives. Though Agreth gave me some wonderful magical powers I could use on water, leaving my world for forever really made me sad. Though I had the most wonderful things in my whole life, I still felt disappointed.”

“Fate brought me to a dangerous revelation. A junior kid drowned in the pool on a study tour. He was a seven-year-old boy and I had to save his life. I had to use my magical power to save his life. There was not enough time to try the other ways. My strange abilities were revealed and rumored upon. On the other hand, Agreth’s secret plan of making me a sea-goddess was revealed too.”, Mirabella sighed deeply.

“Why? How?”, May was extremely disturbed to get a hint that the story was going to be a tragic one.

“Agreth was a prince. He was not officially a ‘Kika’. Before becoming a ‘Kika’, young sea-gods and goddesses were under the surveillance of the clairvoyants. Clairvoyants were the eldest of all sea-spirits. Turning a human or other creature into a sea-god or goddess was prohibited for the ones who have not yet become a Kika. Only a parent can inherit his or her children to be a Kika. So, Agreth had to go to his clairvoyant master for convincing him to help him in his plan. Before being a Kika, sea gods and goddesses do not possess that much magical power which can turn a creature into a sea-god or goddess or a sea-god or goddess into another creature. Even if he was a ‘Kika’, turning a human into a sea-goddess and letting her live in the water kingdom was prohibited according to the unwritten law of the kingdom itself. The master did not help him. He revealed it to Azrech, the king sea-god.”

Everyone in the room sighed. The fear of experiencing a tragic story was coming true. No one talked for a long time.

“What happened then…”, Joshua broke the silence.

“We did not see each other for a whole year. I kept waiting on the beach, I swam too but it felt painful without my Agreth, my soulmate. After months of waiting, I stopped going to the ocean. My trauma came back. I was sent for exorcisms, I was forced to go to mental health institutions. I shut down myself in all human ways. Melancholy took over me to the severest level. I learned to pretend to be normal. Because I could not live like a caged creature anymore. Many months took me to get back the trust of my parents that I could go out of my home. It was a whole year now after Agreth last came to me and told me what happened. He told me he most possibly could get prisoned by his father and the masters. The masters harbored the long-cherished hatred against mixing sea-gods and other creatures. Especially humans. They might banish him too or turn him into a sea-horse or whale.”

“I stood at the beach for a long time. The sun was setting. The crimson evening looked like exactly that one when we first kissed. I felt something inside my chest. I wept. Smiled. Wept again. I looked up at the sky and looked down into the ocean waves.”

“Did he come? Agreth? Did he come?”, Jane was quite restless. Mirabella frowned. He ignored her interruption and continued.

“I saw him. Looking at me with those same eyes. I recognized it was him, his face. But his body was different. I was not sure if it was some unknown fish or some other creature. His bluish-green shades were gone. His colour changed to brown. He beckoned me with his tail-like hand. I went near to him. He made gestures with his face, eyes, and tails. But he was not speaking. I kept asking him to talk. He made some gestures that looked like he wanted to tell me that he could not talk. He kept making gestures. I could not understand. I was crying. I embraced him. He embraced me with his tails. We both wept. It was getting darker. He tried to explain again. I told him I had to return home or I will be prisoned again at home. But we would meet the next day.”

Mirabella paused and looked at their faces. Their nose tips went pink and their eyes had the sign of tears. Mirabella herself felt moistened in the eyes. She breathed deeply and took a few more moments. No one asked what happened next. She started again.

“The next day I went to the beach earlier. I was so excited and stressed that it was difficult to even breathe. I was walking back and forth on the sandy shore. Few minutes felt like eternities. He came after half an hour. He was swimming slowly, I could totally understand that he was weak. He stopped in the knee-length water. I walked near him. He started to make the gestures again. And I told him to slow down. He slowly made the gestures this time and I gradually understood that he was asking for my magic locket. I never lost that locket. But I kept it to a secret and safe place. I told him to wait until I bring it back. I went home and brought the amulet. I gave it to him and held it with his tails. He looked at me, trying to tell me something with his gaze. I felt that he was thanking me. After a moment he swam away. I stood there for a while.”

“After a week I went to the beach again. In this one week, I did not see him. I sat down on the sand because my feet were hurting by all the walking. After a moment, someone patted me on the shoulder. I startled and looked back. A very handsome young man was smiling at me. I did not understand. “Miri, my soulmate”, he spoke. Suddenly, I felt a shiver in my body. “Agreth! Agreth!”, I cried and jumped in his arms. He shushed me. Held me tightly in the castle of his arms. His voice was the same. I looked into his eyes. Same big, magnetic eyes, watery blue. He put the amulet on me again. “It belongs to you”, he said. Then he told me about the dangers he went through. His family turned against him, the masters punished him. They turned him into a fish and took his voice. He was kept as a prisoner and his powers were taken away. His family knew all about his love for a mortal human and secret plans of turning that human into a sea-goddess. After many fighting, with the help of a friend, he was able to escape. He needed the amulet for turning himself into a human. So, he decided to leave his thousand-year life and live as a human with me. But he lost almost all his powers except for some vision and magic over water.”

“Ah, thank God! Thank God! So, where is Agreth now?”, asked May.

“He is your uncle Danny. The one you all love so dearly”, Mirabella smiled. “Yes, he performed some rituals over himself to change his physical beauty. People used to get very suspicious. Especially girls. However, we do not go near water anymore. Our story is a ‘happily ever after’’. Mirabella gave a charming smile.

“Miri, honey, you there?”, a deep voice spoke. Uncle Danny entered the room and walked towards Mirabella. Gave her a kiss. Then he turned towards them and greeted them warmly. Reminded them it was almost time for dinner. They looked at each other and smiled.

“Happily, Ever After”, said Jane. She had a naughty smile. Mirabella placed her forefinger on the lips again.