People who were clones of another, someone who had already lived and affected the world in some way or another.
No wonder the humans had no interest in talking to her. He could see it through their eyes. She was like all the other clones. Stealing part of their lives. Their jobs. The food. Not even a real person, at the end of the day, because she had no parents at all.
Something in him snapped at that. He drew her into his arms, holding her against his chest even though he was still very angry at her. She should have talked to him. Told him all of what she was feeling long before this.
But he'd be damned if she thought she was lesser than the people who lived in the city.
"You deserve all that they have and more," he said into her hair. "You are not less than them because you were born in the way that you were. You deserve a life, to take up space, to be who you were meant to be. They do not get to tell you that you are worth less than they are."
"But what if I am?"
He drew back and gave her a little shake. "You are not. A single drop of your blood has more bravery and kindness than any of those people who would judge you for something so foolish as the lack of parents. You are a person, just like they are, Ellie. Repeat it to me."
She gulped. "I am a person."
"Say it again."
"I'm a person, and it doesn't matter what they think of me." A small smile touched her lips. "And you are still very mad at me."
"I am."
"Why?"
He breathed out a long, low sigh. "Because you should have told me. Because I let you get taken from me, and I know you were scared. Even though you have done all the things I feared you might do, I still think very highly of you. I wish I could be angry and decide I want nothing to do with you, but I cannot do that. Because you are you, and I am me, and I fear we were meant to be tied together like this. Gloriously angry at each other for the rest of eternity."
Ellie shifted in his grip, her hands reaching up to trace the hard outline of his lips. He was still very angry. He wanted to nip her fingers to punish her a little more.
But she was so gentle as she touched his mouth. Gentle as she whispered, "I think that's called love, Proteus."
"No," he snarled, finally giving in and nipping her fingers. But it was a soft bite, more meant to startle than to hurt. "You insult those feelings by calling it something so small as love."
"Love is the biggest feeling a person can have."
"It is not. There are unnamed feelings. Feelings of a soul who has found their other half. Feelings of knowing that you are with the person the very universe guided you to. You are that person for me, Ellie. You are more than just a love, because love can fade. What I feel for you is as permanent and endless as the sea."
She softened against his chest with every word, drawn closer and closer to him until she finally let out a sigh and kissed him again.
He was still angry with her. Furious, even. But his plans hadn't gone awry after all. She had merely cemented that the humans would do what they said, and they would make sure that no matter what happened, the People of Water would soon be the only ones left in the sea.
Taking a deep breath, he wrapped his arms around her and tightened his grip until she let out a little squeak. "I will find you food. We will rest here for a while longer before we return. I think it's long past time I had an honest conversation with the people in that dome, and perhaps we will show them all that we know."
"Really?" she asked, leaning back to look him in the eyes. "Do you mean it?"
"I do." He traced her jaw before releasing her. "Sometimes you are right, Sisu. Even if it infuriates me."
And then he headed back into the water before he did something stupid. Like sinking back into her arms for more hours on end, just because he found her to be so thoroughly captivating.
Thirty-Eight
Ellie
Ellie watched him leave, and she was alone in this massive cavern. But the longer she sat here, the more she started to wonder about the place.
It wasn't hot, strangely enough. She had a feeling that had to do with the ocean surrounding it, and how much of that water was still very cold. The cave seemed to have been both naturally carved out of the cliff side by the waves themselves, and then clearly helped with tools made by humans. She could see some of the carvings that had been left behind, but worn away by time.
Walking along the edge of the waves, she trailed her fingers along the walls. So many people had been here for years on end, it seemed. She placed her hands where theirs must have gone. For a moment, it almost felt like she could hear them.
The voices of people long ago. They still lived here, like ghosts. All the people who had spent countless years worshipping, walking the same path she did, running their hands along the same walls and perhaps even wondering at those who had come before.
