The smell of rust and salt clung thick in the water-soaked air, a suffocating heaviness that wrapped around everything in sight. Inside a massive iron cage its bars corroded from years of being submerged, flakes of reddish-brown metal constantly peeling away two figures sat in silence. The entire place looked ancient and neglected, as if forgotten by the civilized world long ago. Only a few half crumbled buildings made of dull blue stone stood around the area, their shapes warped and eroded by currents and time.

Dozens of cages surrounded them, scattered across the open underwater clearing like discarded debris. Inside those cages moved… everything. Atlanteans with dulled expressions, strange underwater creatures with fins and scales of all kinds and even monstrous beasts that growled softly through barred teeth. It felt like a grotesque market of life every species imaginable trapped, restrained, and waiting for whatever fate these traffickers had planned.

Inside one of those cages sat Levy and Aurora.

Levy looked completely drained. His shoulders slumped against the iron rods behind him, his breathing shallow and weak. The hunger had already chewed away his strength three or four days without food had stripped the color from his face. His lips were cracked eyes sunken in, and he seemed barely able to keep them open. Every time he inhaled, his ribs trembled visibly beneath his torn clothes.

Aurora sat beside him, her posture stiff and irritated. Her expression showed clear displeasure at the entire situation, but unlike Levy, she wasn't physically deteriorating. Thanks to her immortality, her body looked perfectly fine her skin glowing softly even in this miserable place, hair floating in gentle waves around her. She looked untouched by exhaustion… yet the frustration and worry in her pink eyes had only deepened each day.

It had been three or four days since they'd been spat out of that massive whirlpool launched into the sky by force so strong levy shouldve died on impact. If not for Aurora's quick actions and her sentient item, he could've easily become corpse across the ocean floor if not for her sunflower hairpin as she used its power to save him though sadly now it had broken destroyed entirely. Every other item she carried had been shattered in the fall too.

And to make things worse, instead of falling somewhere safe, they crashed down right into the middle of some criminal base.

Aurora still felt bitter about the sheer stupidity of that luck.

According to the whispering workers who moved around the cages, this organization was called the Drowned Exchange. Slave traders. Smugglers. Traffickers of both people, beasts or whatever profitable. They collected anything with value, shoved them into cages, and later sorted them like livestock judging, ranking, and deciding what each prisoner was "good for."

Levy and Aurora had already been through that horrifying "sorting." A huge octopus-like man had walked in front of their cage on the first day his tentacles tapping along the metal bars, his wide eyes scanning their bodies with eerie detachment. He had poked, prodded, sniffed, and checked them like meat before deciding they were "Which he choose not to tell." Whatever that meant.

After that, nothing.

No questions.

No instructions.

No food.

Just silence, uncertainty swirling around them like a heavy fog.

Levy's condition had deteriorated rapidly.

"You shouldn't have come to save me…" she whispered, her voice filled with little worry that she tried to hide behind a frown. "Why did you even run toward me snatching your hand away from Razeal? And now look… you're stuck here with me. You would've been safe with Razeal."

Her words were soft but filled with guilt. She kept looking between his pale face and her own hands, as if blaming herself again and again for his condition.

Levy, despite looking like a dying goldfish, still leaned back with swagger that absolutely did not match his half-dead body.

"How could I have let such a beautiful girl," Levy said, "fly away into that whirlpool alone?" His voice was thin, cracking at the edges, yet still holding that ridiculous warmth he always carried when he spoke to her. "I thought you'd be lonely… so I thought, why not? I was only trying to save you."

"Save me?" she muttered, rolling her eyes. "It was literally me who had to save you. If not for me, you would've been dead before you even hit the water. That was stupidity."

"Then what a wasteful life it'd be," he murmured, "if I hadn't risked it for such a beautiful woman." His voice thinned further, drifting like breath rather than speech. "Dying to protect you would've been worth every bit of it."

"Alright, will you stop flirting already?" Aurora snapped finally, unable to pretend she wasn't affected anymore. "You've been doing it nonstop since morning. We're literally in a dangerous situation. Don't you think, I don't know maybe you should think about something else?"

Her words were sharp, but her face betrayed her. Her cheeks were pink heartbeat loud. And her stomach absolutely full of butterflies that were refusing to behave.

Aurora quickly turned her head away, hiding the tiny, shy smile she refused to acknowledge. She acted annoyed which she always did but being stuck with Levy for four days in nothing but cold metal and danger… their closeness had only intensified.

Honestly, both of them knew something had changed.

Twenty days together on the ship had already made their relationship warm, teasing, natural. But four days trapped together alone, depending on each other, watching each other, protecting each other? Yeah. There was no denying it anymore .. something definitely was going on.

Levy lifted his head a little, even though his strength was almost gone.

"I wasn't flirting," he said slowly, as if explaining something obvious. "I'm just telling the truth, my beautiful lady."

Aurora's head snapped toward him again.

"…My?" she repeated, eyebrows raising. "You just called me .. Umm?"

Levy instantly coughed for a second

"N–Nothing, nothing," he said quickly, then pointed at her. "I just suddenly remembered the first time we met.. you slapped me on the face. For absolutely no reason. I was just trying to help you stand up."

Aurora saw exactly what he was doing trying to escape but she let him run away with it. Her lips twitched.

"Sure, sure," she said lightly. "And about that slap… you definitely deserved it."

Levy put a hand over his heart like she had personally stabbed him.

"Cruel woman."

"Mm-hmm," Aurora hummed, not denying it.

But her face softened a bit when she glanced at him again.

Levy looked exhausted.

Pale.

Weak.

Four days without food for a mortal was not a joke.

Aurora didn't need to eat at all but she could see the toll everything was taking on him. He leaned back against the cold rods like a corpse with pretty hair.

"…Anyways," Aurora said softly, brushing her pink bangs aside. "Leave this topic. It's already been four days. Razeal and Father still haven't come to get us."

Her voice wavered slightly more worried than she wanted to admit.

"How long do you think it'll take? I overheard those guards they said we're currently in the Second Sea. Father said earlier we'd be entering the Seventh Sea. Maybe something went wrong. Maybe we thrown wrong. Maybe.."

She stopped when she saw more fish-men marching past their cage, their heavy tridents scraping over the stone. Their eyes didn't spare them more than one lazy glance.

Aurora lowered her voice.

"If they take too long…, We might really be in danger. They haven't noticed us much til now, but that won't last. Once their did something bad gonna happen…"

She trailed off, frowning.

Levy didn't even blink.

"I don't know about your father," he said casually, "but Razeal? No. He won't come."

Aurora stared at him.

"Why not? He tried to save us from that whirlpool. He even saved Maria who he didn't even showed care in ship for even a second. And he seemed more focused on you too. Maybe he won't come for me… but he'll definitely come for you, right? Maybe he just needs time."

Her voice held hope.

But Levy's answer was immediate.

"No. He won't. I know him more."

Aurora frowned deeply now.

"Then why did you come with him? You don't even seem to trust him. Aren't you the stupid one here? I'm immortal. I was kidnapped but I'm fine. But you you're just a normal human. Isn't it dumb for you to be wandering around the seas with someone you don't trust?"

Levy's face twisted dramatically in pain as if she stabbed him with words instead of concern.

"Who said I wanted to come?" he said, sounding betrayed. "I was kidnapped too! I didn't want to be here! He forced me to come. He even robbed me of all the money I earned. I'm innocent. A victim. Suffering in silence."

"So," she said tiredly, "are we stuck here then? Do you have any way out?"

Levy blinked.

"I dont.. Like i definitely can't fight these men," He groaned. "Like heyyy, there are hundreds of these guys. If I tried, I'd die in the first ten seconds. Didn't we get caught because there were too many of them in the first place? I was knocked out in one punch. One single punch. One."

He lifted one trembling finger as if demonstrating the number to the universe.

Aurora looked at him, lips tightening, eyes softening despite herself.

She sighed.

"Sorry… I could've helped too," she murmured, guilt weighing heavily on her voice. "It's just… I can't. Maybe if I wasn't this scared of pain and actually used my ability… maybe we could already be out of here."

Her expression fell.

She looked so small in that moment sad, guilty, frustrated.

Her pink eyes dimmed like someone blew out the light inside them.

Levy noticed instantly.

"Heyy, no," he said, shifting his tired body to face her a little more. "Don't worry about that. Seriously. Let's not do something that'll make you suffer. Even if you used your ability.. would you realistically be able to kill all these men? There are like 200 or 300 of them, and they're all ridiculously bulky and built like brick walls."

She stared at him… then slowly nodded.

"Yeah… definitely not," she admitted. "My ability isn't that strong. Maybe if I had my father's ability, then I could've. But mine…" She sighed again and looked at her hands like they had betrayed her. "Why did I have to get this stupid ability? They say immortality is a blessing an incredible gift but honestly it feels so useless right now.. Afterall i can survive.. But you.." She went long sailent after that.

She clicked her tongue, annoyed at herself.

She sighed again longer this time.

"Anyway… leave it."

She turned her head toward Levy. Her expression grew serious. More serious than anything she had said so far.

"You haven't eaten for four days. You're going to die like this. So… how about I try cutting my fingers? Or my hand?" she whispered hesitantly, eyes lowering. "You can eat it. It's the best idea I can think of right now because if not… you really might die."

Levy shot upright like lightning struck him.

"NO, no, no leave it!" He waved both hands frantically, nearly smacking the cage bars. "Absolutely not. That sounds awful. I'm not eating your hand!"

Aurora frowned at him, genuinely confused why he refused.

"But you'll die. You're human tkk. And I'll be fine. Don't worry about the pain. Yes, I hate pain more than anything but for this much, I can do it. And you'll help me, right? Be with me? We can just… do it quickly."

She said that with such honest determination that Levy went silent.

Her pink eyes stared straight into his green ones.

For a moment, they both just looked at each other, breathing faintly, the sound of distant sea currents humming like background music.

Levy didn't look away.

Neither did she.

Then finally…

Levy gently shook his head.

"Leave it," he said softly. "How about…"

His gaze suddenly drifted downward.

Lower…

Lower…

Straight to her chest.

"…do you have some milk?" he asked with a completely straight face.

Aurora froze.

Then her face erupted into red pink eyes widening, lips parting in absolute shock.

"You.. B.. B.. BASTARD!"

Her hand flew instantly, smacking Levy's head hard.

Thwack!

"Ouch! Ouch! Ouch!!" Levy yelped, holding his head. "I was just asking! I don't eat people, you know! And the atmosphere was getting too serious so I was trying to joke a little!"

Aurora pressed her palm to her forehead.

"Yeah, yeah," she muttered. She didn't believe his excuse at all and crossed her arms tightly over her chest very defensively.

Levy couldn't help noticing.

She noticed him noticing and glared.

He looked away immediately.

Silence returned slowly.

The cage creaked.

Water dripped.

Finally

After two minutes, Aurora finally exhaled and leaned her back against the cage bars next to him. Her voice softened, almost hesitant now.

"So… you said before that you wanted a girlfriend," she murmured, not looking at him. "Can I ask… why were you so desperate for it?"

Aurora kept her gaze forward, but her fingers subtly curled around the rusted bars. She looked… genuinely curious. Confused. Maybe a little insecure too. Like she wanted to understand something she didn't bothered to before.

Levy listened to her words, and a faint smile tugged at the corner of his mouth.

"There's nothing I'm hiding," he murmured quietly, voice barely above a whisper. "And no… it definitely isn't desperation. It's something complicated.. Well atleast than what it appears to be."

He exhaled slowly, like each thought he released had weight, like he needed to carefully choose which ones were safe enough to say out loud. His eyes drifted toward the top of the cage, watching the faint flickers of light in the water.

"It's just that I know something I shouldn't," he continued, tone low. "I want a partner I can love.. truly love but I'm already aware of the future that waits for us. The one that crumbles before it can even be built. And when you carry that kind of inevitability inside you… your heart begins to ache for the very thing you must refuse."

His voice softened, almost becoming a confession spilled to the ocean rather than to Aurora.

His gaze lowered, his expression shadowed by an inner conflict that didn't seem to stop hurting.

"It's strange, you know?" he whispered. "How being aware of what must not happen only sharpens the longing for it. That awareness turns into a weight… a kind of quiet torment. It makes the desire look like desperation when, in truth… it's simply pain wearing a familiar mask."

Aurora listened quietly.

Her eyes stayed fixed on him not blinking, not moving away and yet there was no pressure in her gaze. It was calm, accepting, and surprisingly gentle. The pink depths of her eyes shifted, showing a small flicker of understanding she didn't voice.

Finally, she spoke, her tone flat but honest:

"Seems like you're really scared about that, haaa…" she said softly. "And seems like I misunderstood someone. I thought you were just one of those simps."

Levy let out a low chuckle tired, but real.

"No one knows the feeling," he said, "until it is finally you turn to."

Aurora inhaled lightly, thinking over his words before asking again this time quieter, almost hesitant

"…Will it be alright to tell me what this inevitable thing of yours is?"

Levy didn't answer immediately.

For a long moment, the two sat in silence nothing but distant water currents humming through the cages, muffled talking of guards somewhere far away, the faint metallic groan of rusted bars. The sea itself felt suspended, waiting.

Aurora didn't push him.

Just simply watching.

Levy stared upward, his eyes tracing the distorted light through the water as if he were searching for courage somewhere in the shifting waves.

Then, slowly… very slowly… he turned his face toward her.

"Well…" he whispered, a sad smile appearing again, "since I might be going to die here anyway… I might as well tell you, right?"

Aurora's pink eyes softened just a little more, and she straightened slightly.. giving her full attention..

"It's just that…" he said quietly, "…getting boons from those shitty gods comes with a price."

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