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Chapter Text

The Deep has been a source of curiosity to humans since the beginning of times. Waves that kissed the shores offered a tempting call to sailors, urging them to launch themselves into its awaiting arms. The seas brought beautiful gifts as well; colorful shells and peculiar creatures that dug in the sand. Cristal clear waters were marveled at, while the darker shades from deeper ones send shivers down a human's spine. Some would even say they could feel the weight of a pair of eyes on their back as they cut through the calm waves on that lonely space where there is only the sea, the sky and your crew. That was the moment sailors would laugh at day and pray at night, begging for the protection of the Sea God of Lemuria.

And in fact, there has always been a Sea God of Lemuria whose protective gaze encompassed everything within the sea's breeze. He was responsible for the protection of both humans and Lemurians alike. With a flick of His wrist, raging seas would stand as still as a pond, waves could rise to the skies; with a word, sea life would stand to attention; and with a glare, the depths of the ocean could freeze or burn. Such an immense power was a result of generations of Sea Gods' knowledge passed down to a successor chosen by the Ocean itself, granted only to those that earned the heart of the most devout of followers.

It all led to the Last Sea God of Lemuria, who once was a boy in love.

When He came to be, He was granted the name 'Rafayel'. The Elders of his time would describe their god as marvelous and all powerful, as expected. But when the Temple would clean out, they'd sigh and try to hide their smiles, thinking of the troublemaker they had in their hands. 

Rafayel had an innate curiosity that rivaled those of humans. He longed for a life He could not have, an anonymous and tranquil one. Alas He was the one born when the sun met the horizon, under a burning fire He alone could light. All he had known was His duty. All He should be was intertwined with His duty. Until he met her.

A human, a sacrifice. His devout follower. His love.

The Sea God was supposed to present her heart to the Sun Below The Waves and keep His vigil as Lemuria's god. But Rafayel could not push the cerimonial knife into her chest, could not stare into those eyes that shone with affection and erase their light from Existance.

In the end, Lemuria payed the price for his choices.

Without the sacrifice, he could not achieve His full potential, couldn't protect Lemuria from the humans that invaded his home, couldn't protect his love when she was under a powerful spell that hurt both her and him, and he couldn't keep the fire from underneath alive.

Rafayel, ultimately, had cast the Deep into shadows, cursing his people to either leave Lemuria or live as monsters for all eternity.

Those who heard the legend claimed the Sea God chose His love above all else. A selfish god that favored one life.

In the eyes of History it was all He would be. Always the Doomed God, overlooking who he truly was: a young man that had known too little, that had loved too much; a shadow on the Temple's highest balcony, watching his world break into tiny pieces because he made a choice he did not understand completely at the time. But one he couldn't bring himself to take back, not when it meant she was safe...

Or so he thought.

Chapter Text

On the edge of the Lemurian Sea God's gaze, there was a cave in the Deep that extended inside an underwater cliff with twists and turns that would lead some poor unfortunate soul astray, or better yet, straight into her hands.

Her name was long forgotten, or perhaps it never existed. Her sole companions were the eels that followed her for as long as she could remember. Silent companions that watched over her with sharp teeth she liked to imagine were similar to smiles, encouraging her to let her thoughts wander with them. After all, they were the only ones she could talk to. Not that they offered much of an answer.

She had come across Lemurians, of course. Frightened little beings, shivering from the cold of their impending doom. They offered her anything within or beyond their reach, turning themselves from the inside out to get a taste of the potions she'd make, hoping it would bring them some sort of relief. The young woman had made potion after potion with a concerned frown and open ear, be it health related potions, love potions or potions that could turn fins into fingers. And as the liquid made its way down their throats, her smile threatened to rip her face in half. Those desperate souls never read the small letters of the contracts they signed with her.

The Deep Sea Witch was how they started calling her; a last resort for dire situations, only the lost had found her.

So it didn't come to a surprise when a young man appeared asking for salvation.

The Witch was laying on some pillows she had found and become the owner of. Sometimes inattentive humans let the best of things fall into the Ocean's grasp. Her eels were slithering over her outstretched arm, and she watched them with boredom. No one had come to her in some time now and those were the moments she truly despised, the stillness of the Deep, where no light could truly reach. Her magical lights, some round and small spheres, were a small victory, not many had the abilities necessary to weave light underwater and she would sell it to unsuspecting costumers at a fair price of course, like a memory or emotion. She chuckled softly at the last costumer she sold a sphere too, the satisfaction filling her being at the memory of the light deeming from their eyes as they lost a memory that was so precious she had turned it into a very powerful protection spell.

"Are eels that funny?"

A voice called to her and she almost let out a gasp, but she had an image to uphold so she only sat up straighter, her companions swimming to stand beside her head. The Witch raised an eyebrow as she turned to look at the intruder, keeping her face as stoic as she could. What a challenge it was, to look serious when she felt she could gape at the young man standing in the middle of the cave she called home.

The first thing she noticed were his eyes. The Witch had seen a variety of marvelous things in her lifetime, color-changing deep sea animals, precious stones that shone as bright as the surface sun (or so she believed), conches that brought secrets and news from faraway lands and sounded oh so melodious to her lonely ears. But nothing came close to his eyes. A combination of colors that seemed impossible to exist, blue and pink clashing like a soft sunset against the raging sea.

His hair was also an abnormality. Lemurian hair came in all shades of blue, yet the strands on the stranger's head were of a silky purple.

He seemed like a puzzle she was dying to pick apart.

"Are you done gawking at me?" The intruder's voice had a teasing tilt to it, accompanied by the raising corner of his full, pillow-like, mouth.

"I'm simply accessing the stranger that trespassed into my home." Her voice was steady while her mind ran, trying to understand the change of rhythm of her heart.

"Ah... And here I thought this was also your place of work. To be honest, you should invest in a door. What if someone dangerous made their way here with less than noble intentions of harming such beautiful lady?"

"Any trespasser would be met with their demise." She ignored his last couple of words even if her heart didn't. "Costumers, on the other hand, usually have a stench of desperation I can feel miles away. Although you don't look particularly desperate to seek The Deep Sea Witch." She narrowed her eyes in suspicion.

"Believe me, I am no stranger to desperation." His expression grew cold in a way The Witch did not like, the lightness from before suited him far better than this desolated look in his eyes.

"So it seems."

She slowly walked towards the center of the room, where her trusty cauldron stood proud and tall, reaching up to her waist. As she swam over, her dress flowed around her. In the back of her mind, she was glad that was what she chose to wear to receive this unexpected client. 

The dress was a deep purple that was almost black, merging with the shadows that hugged the edges of the cave. It flowed with every movement, the drapes that made up the skirts created an illusion of arms, like an octopus, making her movements even more fluid. The Witch also had taken a liking to her pearl necklace and bracelets, Lemurian tears from past clients that begged so pathetically for her to undo exactly what they signed up for.

With her hands resting on the cauldron, The Witch kept her eyes on the young man.

"The price for a consultation is your name." She stated. After all, names held such power over people and things; if a thing didn't have a name how could they exist? If a person doesn't remember their own name, who could they be?

"Rafayel." The young man answered with that smile from before.

"Rafayel." Repeating a client's name usually meant a new chapter on her personal grimoire, with their information, their request and their soul trapped in the pages of her own particular knowledge. Yet this time she did not feel that shiver of power cursing her veins as she knew she'd hold the client on the palm of her hand. This time, it felt the opposite, like this man, so lean, with fair skin and dark circles under his eyes The Witch only now took notice was the one that held her on the palm of his hand, as if his name had any power over her. Which was a ridiculous notion, she had never met this man before, he should mean nothing to her but a new battery for her power.

"I need a potion that can turn a Lemurian into a human." Came his Rafayel's request.

The Witch grinned, already sewing a contract.

"May I inquire the reason for such unusual request?" She tried to keep her voice light and innocent.

"I'm saving the woman I love."

Her heart met the dark bottom of The Deep.

Chapter Text

The Deep Sea Witch had changed Lemurians into humans a few times since The Fall of Lemuria. Perhaps one of the few things she did that wasn't entirely for her gain... Although those clients did  pay her generously, as it was expected from such request.

But this time, she had hesitated in agreeing to close the deal. The way he did not ask her to do something, but spoke as if it was a certainty, as if saving his lover was only a matter of time and making a deal for a potion was only a simple step on the way. Rafayel looked as if his determination was made of steel and fire. The Witch was certain his lover was a lucky one, being in the receiving end of such passion that man held. It actually made her not want to know what happened. The woman found herself scorning at the image of the unknown person.

Perhaps that was the reason why asking Rafayel to go after the ingredients himself felt like a befitting punishment for loving another. Even if The Witch did not know where such traitorous thought came from.

"It needs a myriad of troublesome materials that you can't even begin to count-" One of her companion eels said. They were mostly quiet with strangers, yet Rafayel seemed to have made them quite chatty for some reason.

"And the three most precious things from the vast Sea-" Continued the other eel.

"A gem that shines forever like the moon, a stream that never wanes with time, a voice that sways like the tide-" As they finished telling the young man about the supposed secret ingredients, The Witch could only massage her temples in annoyance in that first moment, thinking of how that knowledge, if shared with too many fishes, could ruin her business.

When she looked towards the Lemurian though, all she saw was determination once more. He nodded and repeated the ingredients. The Witch then extended a contract of service towards him. It held clauses of confidentiality and his rights as her costumer. All that made the deal seem oficial and beneficial for him. The man didn't even read what he was signing up for, his beautiful eyes didn't even skim through the words properly, clearly he didn't even notice the small words found in between the lines that tied him to serve under her after he got the potion he asked for. All he did was sign his name and thank her.

As he walked away, all light left with him.

What an odd feeling, to be smitten by a stranger.

Maybe she had been alone for far too long in the depths of the Deep to be craving the attention of a man she just met.

It took him a month to return.

The eels were making snark comments about how he took his time, as if the ingredients needed could be found by any coral reef.

"He must've given up by now." The eel on the right scorned.

"Maybe he's fallen in love with someone else?" The one on the left was giggling at the notion.

"It happens. Hearts can be fickle. It's all the same whether you're in the ocean or on land." The Witch spoke absentmindedly. In all honesty, she felt conflicted if that was the case. If he had truly fallen out of love for the human he wished to save, then maybe there was space in his heart for another. At the same time, if Rafayel did not wish to rescue that human, or worse, found someone else, that meant he wouldn't came back to The Witch's lair and-

"My feelings will never change." The sudden voice startled her just as it did when they met.

The eyes that hunted her dreams burned with an anger that left her breathless. Such gaze was directed at the eels, as if the mere thought of Rafayel being in love with someone that wasn't his beloved was nothing short of impossible. Yet, when he turned to face The Witch, she was not met with the same glare he bestowed upon her only companions, she was met with a look as soft as the stray sun rays that cut through the water's surface, illuminating an inmost portion of the dark surrounding the Deep.

"I've returned with the ingredients you requested." He tilted his head slightly.

"I removed the softest scale from my neck. Under my power, it will forever shimmer like the moon." The young man swam forward, gently laying the scale on The Witch's outstretched palm.

"I possess a life that is everlasting, so my blood will forever flow, just like the unending sea." He continued, handing her a vial with the deep red liquid of his blood.

"I've captured a melody within this conch from the Far Eastern Sea. It..." That was the first time The Witch saw the Lemurian hesitate, as if unsure of his choice maybe? "I believe it truly resonates like the captivating ebb and flow of the tide." The Witch took the conch carefully from his hands, ice shooting through her veins as their fingers touched for a moment. 

The woman looked at the materials she held on her arms. That man had surely found an interesting answer to the charade of ingredients this potion required. When she looked at him again, it was to confirm she'd make him his potion.

"When the brightest full moon appears, its radiance reaching the Abyssal Rift, the potion will be com- Oh!" She exclaimed, surprise as Rafayel slumped forward. The Witch held him in her arms, letting the ingredients from before floating around.

After a month of throughfully searching for the ingredients, of giving up his scale and blood, and traveling afar, Rafayel's body could not take the strain on its own anymore, falling into the comfort of the Witch's warm embrace.

Chapter Text

The potion takes 100 days to be made, and for those 100 days and nights, Rafayel has never strayed too far from The Witch's domain. In fact, he stayed most of the time inside... making her company.

It was strange, having another to talk to. Yes, the eels made her company just fine, but those two lived in a world of their own, and most days the young woman actually felt like they were keeping an eye on her rather than being in her company because they enjoyed to do so. Which didn't make sense, because why would anyone keep her under watch? She was The Deep Sea Witch for crying out loud!

And still, for all the years the eels were by her side, she did not feel the want to open up to them like she felt with Rafayel. 

Something about his easygoing attitude, how she caught herself schooling her own laugh as to not sound so shrill or loud and how he looked slightly disappointed, as if he knew what her laughter truly sounded like. He could also be quite contemplative, The Witch could offer a word or two about whatever subject and he found a way to extend their talks to last for hours on end. It felt effortless, it felt natural. It made her want to hunt down the human he loved and curse them.

Which is why she started her second project in the dead of the night, after Rafayel retired to the alcove he called his room for his stay. He usually went to sleep after playing his flute for an hour or so. The melodies rang far into the dark twists and turns of the cave The Witch has always called home. Their absence once he slept only urged her forwards, she wanted him by her side more and more each day, she refused to think he could swim away from her grasp... Or rather, walk away since he wanted and needed the potion to turn him into a human so badly. She wouldn't be able to reach him on the land, so she needed to act now.

Looming over her cauldron, swirling the best and the most rotten of ingredients, she slowly but surely brewed the most sought-out potion known to the living: a love potion.

Just like the emotion it tried to replicate, a love potion was fickle and temperamental, needing constant attention after an ingredient was added, she'd stay awake far into the night to make sure it was being done properly. During the day it needed rest, as love has its periods of stillness as well, only to restart the process at night. She had done this particular potion so many times for the lonely and desperate that it came as easy as breathing - which also meant she knew it would produce the desired effect.

An untrained eye would never know the difference between being in love and having taken the potion, essentially because the ones that sought said potion were in a different reality, they did not care if it was fake, if the words proclaimed weren't accompanied by any warmth, they only cared to keep their desired one next to them. The Witch never thought she'd understand those poor unloved souls, but now she was perched, thirsty with the need to drown in Rafayel's attention. So she stirred the potion night after night.

It was simple, really, changing the vials once the moment came. The brightest, fullest moon of the year shone above the water surface as The Witch stood close to the Lemurian that made her feel things she did not thought possible.

"To achieve the desired outcome, you simply must drink from this." The Deep Sea Witch handed the supposedly unassuming man.

Rafayel looked at the vial she offered and then back into her eyes. His smile was like a wave, crushing down against her, taking her far away from known lands. He downed the potion in one go, and The Witch kept her eyes on his Adam's apple raising and falling with each gulp. She barely noticed how she hadn't inhaled from the moment he took the vial from her hands.

The Witch kept her eager eyes on his face, taking in every single change in expression, waiting for the moment his lightness would change into adoration.

But his gaze remained the same as the moon slowly tracked the sky, the minutes running by like sand in a glass. The Witch was puzzled. Never had any potion of hers taken longer than necessary to have their effects shown.

"It should've been working by now." She couldn't help herself, murmuring her thoughts.

"The surprise potion you gave me?" Rafayel looked down at the empty vial in his hand. "I've been asking myself what this was about."

"You knew?" Her voice was short of a shrink, disbelief cursing through her words. 

"How-"

"Your cauldron makes bubbling noises when you're stirring something. It woke me one night and I kept coming back to see if you working in the middle of the night was a recurring thing." The young man shrugged nonchalantly

"At first I thought you were simply working on the potion we agreed to, but then again you completed this one way before the one I requested." His eyes were cool and fresh like the Ocean breeze, his voice held no accusations to it. It confused The Witch deeply.

"What I do not understand, however..." He continued.

"...Is exactly what this potion does." Rafayel had now a light in his eyes akin to mirth.

A desert wouldn't be drier than The Witch's mouth in that moment. Never before had she been caught in the act. These were uncharted waters.

She could try to deflect, change the subject, accuse him of conspiring against her, something... But there was something eating at her insides, carving a hole into her brain and refusing to leave.

"Then why did you drink it?" The Witch's voice never sounded so small and fragile most would lose its sound over the waves' melody. But Rafayel gave his undivided attention to her and her only.

"Why wouldn't I?" It was such a simple line of thought.

"Because it could be something made to kill you?" The young woman answered in disbelief, to which was received with a bright smile.

"If it was by your hands, I'd gladly embrace my fate. Yet something tells me that was not the intention this time."

At those words, at his blind confidence burning at her heart, she looked away, unable to face him as she admitted her sins.

"It was a love potion..." Her voice did not raise in cadence, in choir with the laments of the Sea.

"At least, it was supposed to be... I might've done something wrong, mixed an ingredient or-..."

"Silly girl."

Her head snapped up just as his hands came to cup her cheeks. With eyes wide like the full moon shining upon them, she stared into the depths of the Ocean that was his gaze. 

What she saw was no different than what he had shown any day before, his eyes held the same emotions as they always did, the only difference was that this time she was staring straight into them and fully absorbing their heat. The ever present determination was still there, as she expected, yet what swam into the blue of his eyes, emerging with the pink, was an emotion too powerful for her to name, even if it was the very emotion she prayed for.

"You-..."

The young woman didn't know what she was meant to say, she would never figure it out or remember, specially not when Rafayel leaned down to press his lips against hers.

In all her years, she had glanced up to the sky only a handful of times, never really taking much interest for the Surface World. On those sparse occasions, she had seen clouds. White blobs of evaporated water floating in the air as bubbles did in the Ocean. What set them apart was that clouds looked like they were the softest things to ever exist. Which they weren't. Rafayel's lips were.

So incredibly soft. The softest. Nothing could ever compare. These were the only thoughts singing in her head, an opera dedicated to the way his lips moved against hers in a never-ending dance of love and devotion. His hands had moved down to her waist, pulling her close. She didn't know what to do with her hands, truth be told she wished only to touch him and merge her skin to his, so she pulled at those purple strands of hair that fascinated her when she first laid eyes upon him, keeping him close, not wanting to him go ever again.

In that moment cut away from time and space where she was his and he was hers and nothing more, she felt complete. The years of loneliness washed away, the paranoia that hid in the back of her brain now was nonexistent, she could turn into sea foam in his arms and go happily knowing she'd be attached to him in her last moments. But alas, they needed to breath. And even if she despised the idea of parting from him and leaving the space of their shared breath, she respected the small space he created between them.

"Everything I do is for you." 

Rafayel's words threw her heart in the air, making it soar. She's never been happier than in that single moment, even if it was short lived.

Because in his eyes she saw a distance acceptance that made her want to scream. As her lips parted to ask what he meant, she felt a cold liquid making contact with her skin.

In Rafayel's hands were the vial with the actual potion that would turn a Lemurian into a human, a potion she had brought with her on a pouch by her hip. What she didn't know was that this potion she worked so hard for to appease someone she came to love, was also the cure for a curse she did not remember being cast on her.

What she did know was that his lips formed a name his melodious voice spoke so tenderly of. A name she had long forgotten. Her name.

As the transformation began, there was only betrayal in her eyes.