Coral looked at Alexander, her brow furrowed in confusion. "Wait, how did you manage to start a fire in here?" she asked.
Alexander turned to her, a small smile playing on his lips. "I found an old plastic bag in the back of the cave," he explained. "It had a box of matches inside, and there was already some firewood and a fire pit set up, so it wasn't too difficult."
Coral nodded, impressed by his resourcefulness. "That's clever," she murmured, her gaze flickering to the dancing flames that cast a warm glow over the cave's interior.
Alexander watched her, unable to tear his eyes away. Coral was truly a sight to behold - her long, straw-blonde hair framed her delicate features, her big blue eyes shining with a gentle intelligence, and her plump, pink lips slightly parted in contemplation. She looked almost ethereal, like an angel descended from the heavens.
The rain outside had shifted direction, and the resulting wind caused the fire to flicker and dance. Coral shivered slightly, and Alexander noticed how the movement caused his fingers to brush against her arm. She glanced at him, her cheeks flushing slightly, then turned her attention back to the fire.
The silence between them stretched on for a moment, until Alexander cleared his throat. "Your parents... How do they know mine?" he asked, his deep voice cutting through the stillness.
Coral felt a shiver run down her spine at his words. She didn't want to hide anything from him, but the truth of her forgotten past still weighed heavily on her mind. "To be honest, I... I don't actually remember," she admitted, her voice tinged with guilt. "Your parents found me...."
Alexander studied her intently, his brow furrowed as he considered her words. "Hmm." he murmured, the sound low and thoughtful.
Hmm... what does he mean Coral thought. However, suddenly she remembered Super Bee.
'You only remember me now. I want to see how much time you take to remember me,' Super Bee said, coming out of her hair as she glared at Coral with her huge eyes.
Coral tried to ignore Super Bee's buzzing presence, not wanting to appear strange in Alexander's eyes.
'You can talk to me through our mental connection.' Super bee said, rolling her eyes.
Coral's eyes widened slightly as she spoke to Super Bee through her mind. 'How is this even possible?'
'You're a mermaid in the human world, so everything is possible.' Super Bee replied.
Coral nodded, then asked through their mental link, 'Okay, how much time will it take to stop this typhoon? Are we safe here?'
'You're safe, but don't go too close to the cave entrance - the wind is blowing very fast," Super Bee warned. "Don't worry, everything will be fine by tomorrow morning. Just get through the night.'
Coral nodded again, turning her attention back to the fire. It was getting dark, and both she and Alexander were growing hungry, but there was nothing to eat. Alexander added more plastic to the fire, knowing it was a necessary precaution for their safety.
Coral shivered, hugging her arms to her body. Alexander noticed and turned to her, concern etched on his features.
"Are you feeling cold" he asked, coral nodded her head, her eyes widened when suddenly he pulled her in his arms, hugging her.
***
James paced furiously around the helicopter, his mind racing with a swirling mixture of anger, fear, and desperation. He clenched and unclenched his fists, the veins in his forehead throbbing as the report sank in.
"I don't care what it takes, send out more search teams immediately!" he barked at the subordinates surrounding him. "Scour every inch of this damn area until you find them!"
The men scrambled to relay the orders, but James could see the uncertainty in their eyes. The typhoon raging outside made conditions increasingly dangerous, and visibility was nearly zero.
"The storm is making it impossible to continue the search safely," one of the men tentatively informed James. "We'll have to wait it out until the weather clears."
James whirled on the man, his face twisted in fury. "Wait it out?!" he snarled. "Alexander and Coral are out there, alone, in the middle of that hell! We can't just sit around and do nothing!"
The man took a step back, holding up his hands in a placating gesture. "I understand your concern, boss, but we have no choice. It's too risky to send teams out now. We'll resume the search as soon as it's safe to do so."
James knew the man was right, but the knowledge did nothing to soothe the turmoil within him. He ran a trembling hand through his disheveled hair, eyes wild with worry.
"Dammit," he growled, sinking down onto a crate, head in his hands. "Where the hell could they be?"
James had never felt so powerless, so utterly at the mercy of forces beyond his control. All he could do was wait and pray that Alexander and Coral were somehow weathering the storm, alive and unharmed.
The minutes stretched on into hours as James paced restlessly around the helicopter, unable to sit still with the uncertainty weighing so heavily on his mind. He would occasionally bark orders at his men, demanding they do more, try harder.
Every time he closed his eyes, James saw the face of Alexander and Coral, and it only fueled his desperation to find them. He couldn't bear the thought of something terrible happening to them out there in the storm.
Occasionally, one of the search team would approach him with an update, but each time it was the same story - the weather conditions were too dangerous to continue the search. James would grit his teeth, fighting the urge to lash out in frustration.
As night fell, the wind howled and the rain pounded relentlessly against the helicopter's hull. James stared out into the pitch black, his eyes straining to see any sign of movement, any glimmer of hope. But there was nothing, just the endless darkness.
He let out a shaky breath, running a hand through his disheveled hair. "Where are you, Alexander? Coral?" he whispered into the void, his voice barely audible over the roar of the storm.