Chapter 2: Something strange in the ocean

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The waves mattered little when the people were hungry.

However, that did not mean that Ariel was not afraid. He was just a boy, fifteen years old, and if he was far from the coast, on the high seas, it was only because his mother had forced him to accompany her.

There she was, steering the helm, wearing rustic clothes in the middle of a cloudy and dangerous weather. The waves were big, so big that water was seeping over the bow of her small fishing boat.

That didn't seem to bother the forty-year-old woman.

—Go outside and cast the net! —she said to her son.

The boy was wearing a rain coat; he was completely covered in yellow plastic, even his head, but when he heard his mother's command, he removed his hood.

—What are you waiting for? Go now!

His mother's shout made him tremble; he was undoubtedly afraid of her.

He swung his legs and stepped out of the helm chamber. Shaking like a jelly, it was impossible not to slip, so he fell on his mouth when he was close to the fishing nets, on the starboard side.

He narrowly managed to get up.

As soon as he was upright, he operated the machine that would haul back the fruit of all his effort, and he hoped that would be the case. He gripped the machinery's handle firmly, then pulled a lever to release the ship's largest net.

Everything seemed to be going well, he even looked at his mother inside the chamber, who for some reason, was shouting something at him that he couldn't understand.

—What...?

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He turned around by simple inertia.

An immense wave ended up lashing him.

Panic entered his heart. He was dragged fiercely toward the tip of the bow, the boat lurched harder, making him want to vomit. However, that was the least of all his problems.

The only thing keeping him inside the boat was his efforts not to fall into the water. In the distance he saw his mother running to help him, but it was too late.

The salinity in his eyes and his nose congested from the sea made him give up.

—Ariel! —shouted the woman as close as she could get to the bow.

The ocean was still terrible. It did not change a bit. Her son was swallowed up and there was nothing she could do. She stared at the water without saying a word; she wished her boat would capsize.

She fell to her knees and closed her eyes, cursing herself several times.

It was then that a huge light came out of the water, and that light turned out to be her son, with a black stone embedded in his forehead.

Ariel was returned to the ship and as if by a miracle, the ocean calmed down, even the sun emerged victorious from the dark clouds that occupied the entire sky.

The stone peeled off the boy's forehead and slid a few feet away. The next thing she did was check his pulse.

Seeing his pale skin and purple lips, she knew she would have to apply first aid.

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