Louisa's POV
"The snails are amazing," the catfish smacked his mouth and said. "It has been a really long time since I ate so many snails in one take."
"Can we go now?" I asked.
"Sure," he said. "You and that white-headed can climb on my back. The two fishheads can swim with me."
I carried Alex up and said, "Let's go."
Alex looked intimidated.
"Can we trust it?" he asked. "It's a catfish."
"Wow, he lied to you and now he calls me a liar. That's interesting," the catfish grunted.
"Animals don't lie," I said to Alex.
"But they're animals. They're beasts. They don't have any reasons," Alex said worriedly.
"Oh, yeah. You've got reasons and everything. That's why you lied to your friends," the catfish argued.
Even though I was the only one who could hear him, he still kept talking to Alex.
I found that a lot of animals did that. They never stopped talking to human beings even though they knew they couldn't be heard.
"Come on, let's hurry up and go," I said and helped Alex to get on the back of the catfish.
"You can pull my whisker, but not too hard. It takes a long time to grow another pair," the catfish said.
"You can grab his whisker to keep balance, but you can't pull it too hard," I said to Alex.
Alex nodded his head with doubt.
Mana and Mata jumped into the water and said, "Let's go, Miss!"
Then, they cruised forward like little boats.
The catfish started to move, getting faster and faster.
I sat on his back and rode him like a horse.
The strong wind blew into my face and hair. I couldn't open my eyes and the wind literally took my breath away. The lake mirrored a cloudless sky and the beautiful birch and pine trees on the shore. Against the flow of water, I stretched my feet in the water, so more ripples and splashes of water were created. From a distance, I could see a giant sign on the side of the lake -
"Royal property. No trespassing."
No wonder this catfish can grow this large. No one is allowed to fish here. I thought to myself.
I started into the lake. The water was clear and I could see the lush waterweed waving along with the current.
"Staring into the water is a very dangerous thing," the catfish said. "When people stare at it long enough, you'll see the past life and future of your life, but the only thing you can't see is the present. People get consumed by their past and confused by their future. That's why they decide to drown themselves in the lake because that's the only way they reconcile with their past and future."
"Do you save their lives? Like what you've done to us?" I asked.
"Not really. In most cases, I wait till they're dead and eat their bodies," he said.
"But why did you save us?" I frowned. A catfish consuming a dead body was a very disturbing image in my mind.
"Because you are the one that I've been waiting for all these years," he replied.
"What do you mean?" I asked.
"I met your father once. The Lycan King," he said.
"What?!" I was shocked.
The catfish continued, "He came to the shore of the lake for fishing decades ago, when he was young, and he caught me. I pleaded for my life and a little girl standing next to him could understand me."
"My mother?!" I asked.
"Yes. You look just like her," the catfish said.
"She persuaded your father to spare my life. In exchange, I taught her the tricks of reading water," I said.
"Reading water?" I asked.
"Yes, if Gifted Ones stare into the water for a really long time, they can see the future of his life, as well as their children's. That's exactly what I had taught her."
"So, did she do it?" I asked.
The catfish replied, "Yes, she did. And she was a really quick learner. She saw everything in the water. Her destiny. It was written in the ripples and currents. After she saw her gloomy future, she became extremely demotivated and sad. She was just a little girl. Your father was there with her all the time. She told everything to your father."
"What happened next?" I asked.
"He was a powerful and courageous young man. He wasn't afraid of anything. He said he would face their destiny together and he made an oath to marry her and let me become their witness. Then, he pleaded for me to save you, their future daughter. In exchange, he will declare this lake as royal property and no one can take my children away from me."
He then paused for a while and said, "A father's love is very complicated. We decide to love our sons and daughters even before they were born."
I was speechless. My father and mother... After they knew their future life, they still unreluctantly chose to love.
In a world full of dangers and threats, unswervingly, they chose to love each other.
They chose to love me.
Then I realized -
After all these years, even though I had never seen my parents in my life, their love had never once left me.
Tears started to fall down my cheeks. My vision was blurred by tears.
"What else did they say?" I asked.
"They told me to tell you that they love you more than anything in the world. They wanted you to know that you always have a choice. Choose love and forgiveness, not hatred and revenge," the catfish said.
"Mother! Father!" I cried out loud and covered my face.
"Miss Louisa..." Alex looked very confused at me, but somehow he managed to understand.
He held me tightly in his arms and let me cry over his shoulder.
"Life is like water. We float and drown. Call it gravity or destiny. We can run but they can't hide," the catfish said. He used all his effort to push us to the shore and floated with the current in the lake.
"The Cliff of Fear is just over there... and I'm afraid this is as far as I can go..." The catfish's voice was getting lower and quieter. "I have fulfilled my destiny and I can finally take a break now... I want you to know... It's a real pleasure to give you a ride in my life... Please keep protecting and listening... Future Queen of the Kingdom..."
Then, he disappeared in the darkness of water.