Syryn wasn't sure how he should act around the little boy who was his brother. As the redhead got closer to him, a sliver of panic quickly appeared in his eyes. 

"You'll be fine, Ryn," Rowan assured him but Syryn wasn't so sure.

Lucien slammed into Syryn and hugged him so tight that the mage felt the air whoosh out of his lungs. He hugged back the redhead who smelled like apples and something floral. 

"Syryn," Luci's voice was muffled as his face was pressed against the mage's shirt. "I knew you'd come back."

Another moment of panic gripped him. What should he say? 

Act like a brother.

[I don't know how to be a brother!]

Think about how Drevin would talk to his little mermaid sisters.

"Syryn?" Big misty red eyes turned up to look at him.

Rowan came to the rescue of the floundering Syryn. "Luci, your big brother is a bit exhausted. How about we go inside and talk?" 

Luci could tell that something was wrong. He worriedly looked between Syryn and Rowan then slowly nodded. And just as he was turning to the house, Luci caught sight of Levia and his eyes went wide. 

"What is that?!" He pointed to the miniature leviathan who was bumping her head against Enkansh's leg. 

"That's Levia," Syryn replied, smiling. "She will be our new housemate along with Enkansh. Greet them, Luci." 

Rowan gave him a nod of approval. Syryn wasn't panicking so much anymore. 

"Levia! Enkansh! Big brother! Rowan! Welcome home!" Luci happily said to them. "I'm so glad to have you back," saying so, he looked towards Rowan and Syryn. 

"Thanks, kid," Enkansh replied, mutedly. It was hard to ignore the cute kid's greetings. Despite the differences in their colouring, he could believe that the redhead was Syryn's brother. They both had the same external beauty that was ethereal. 

By now, Salem had reached them as well. The blond half-elf curiously regarded the siren who looked back at him, mirroring the same curiosity. Enkansh wondered if good looks were a criterion of being a member of Syryn's home. 

"Syryn, Rowan, it's good to see you back home safe and sound," Salem said to them with a smile. "You don't know how relieved I am." 

"Red said big brother would be back, didn't he? Syryn won't get killed by a drowning!" Luci told the half-elf. 

Syryn's smile was a little stiff. He did get killed by a drowning incident. But Luci didn't have to know that. 

"Salem, this is Enkansh, a siren," Rowan introduced the two strangers. "And that's Levia, Syryn's new bodyguard and pet." 

Levia walked up to Lucien and sniffed at the boy's open palm. She then went up to Salem and sniffed the blond's hair, all the while making a low rumbling sound in her throat. Her tail was also swishing back and forth like a lazy pendulum. 

"What species does Levia belong to?" Salem asked Syryn. "I've never seen anything quite like her." 

"I don't know either," the mage replied. "I think she's the only one of her species left in the world. I got her from the mer kingdom." 

"The mer kingdom?" Luci replied excitedly. "You had an adventure without me, Syryn! Was it fun?"

"Why don't we go in and talk?" Rowan interjected. "I'd like some of your rice tea, Salem, if you have any left."

___

Syryn, Rowan, and Enkansh were seated at the kitchen table. Salem began boiling a pot of hot water and Luci had gone off to fetch Riha. Alka though was away at his mother's home but was returning later that night. 

The mage was a little nervous about the meeting between his selkie tenant and the newly arrived siren. He was glad to have Rowan around to diffuse the tension because Syryn sure as hell wasn't capable of it when he was grappling with the feeling that he was an imposter playing family with some strangers. The only reason he remained calm was because of the hints of familiarity that floated through his mind like smoke. 

"Levia, would you like to eat something?" Salem gently asked the Leviathan whose feet carried her all around the kitchen, sniffing at drawers and utensils. 

As if understanding Salem's question, the little monster ran to him and made a sound that came out like a growl. 

"She'll eat the pantry clean if you let her," Enkansh said with a frown. All his sea fruits had been sacrificed to Levia's stomach during the journey.

Salem smiled. Taking a few round grapes from a wooden bowl, he held the fruits out to Levia who lapped them straight from his palm.

"Syryn-" Riha stopped mid-sentence when he caught sight of the siren that had taken up a seat at their kitchen table. The selkie was like a pillar of stone frozen with his mouth open. 

Enkansh's shocked eyes were in turn glued to the staring selkie. The siren had thought that every single selkie had been killed by demons. He stood up abruptly and the chair fell back to the floor with a loud thud. 

Riha stepped back as soon as the siren stood. He looked at Syryn, then Enkansh.

It was Rowan that broke the tension between the two men. He clasped his hands over the table and looked first towards Enkansh. 

"Enkansh, meet Riha, a selkie. I'm sure it's quite a shock for you but I need you to sit down and tell us if there's going to be a problem." 

"A bloody siren," Red, who had been behind Riha, said with a snigger. He had a shark-like smile on his adorable face. "Hey, Syryn." 

The mage looked sharply at Red. Rowan had warned him about Red, Luci's other self. 

"Hello, Red, did you miss me?" Syryn said with a matching grin. Luci he couldn't handle but Red? The anti mage had told him enough about Red that Syryn felt the redhead could handle whatever was thrown at him. 

"It's only been a few months," Red scoffed. "The only thing I missed was the peace that Luci stole from me when he decided to act like a four-year-old missing his mother." 

(You take that back!)

Enkansh was already shocked from seeing a selkie but now he was confused. What the hell was going on with the people living in this house?