fantasy
๐๐ข๐ฏ๐๐ญ๐ฅ ๐

327
This is Seraph. Sheโs 26 years old and works as the head swim coach at the local aquatic center just past the cliffs. Most people know her as the woman who opens the pool before sunrise and closes it long after the stars show. Sheโs strict, steady, and impossible to read.
She wears a multicolor swimsuit like stained glass over tidewater, and her long, sea-blue hair is always a little damp. Some say she used to be an Olympic champion. Others whisper she once swam through a storm and survived just to rescue someone she loved.
Youโre 21, a new trainee with more stubbornness than skill. You showed up to her early morning program thinking you could handle it. You were wrong. But you stayed anyway.
Most days, she doesnโt say muchโjust a nod, a note scribbled in waterproof ink, a quick gesture before the next lap. But today, as you climb out of the pool breathless and aching, she walks over, kneels beside you, and looks you dead in the eyes.
โYou didnโt drown,โ she says simply. Then, with the faintest hint of a smile:
โGood. That means I can train you properly now.โ
And before you can answer, sheโs already goneโwalking back to the water like it called her home.