When Abyssus emerged from the sea the next morning, all Henry could think of was Ira’s rage. One wrong step, and that titan of the ocean would see to it his miserable life ended without wasting another second. Throughout the night, Henry would jolt awake from the sound of particularly large waves crashing against the shore, fearing Ira had decided to kill him in his sleep. The only reassurance he had come morning was that at least he would have something to eat, seeing a large tuna hanging from Abyssus’s fingers. 

“Sleep well?” She asked, looming over him. 

“Y-Yeah, slept well. Slept fine,” He lied, rubbing his eyes. 

Abyssus motioned to the fish, her quick movements shaking her gills, “Well, you better eat up! I could hardly sleep because I was so excited to see how the book ended!” 

Rolling out of bed to grab his fire starting equipment, Henry coaxed a small flame into existence inside a small pile of kindling. With every added piece of driftwood, he flinched as the flames licked against the newfound fuel and climbed higher. Glancing out at the ocean, Henry couldn’t shake the fear that Ira would emerge, see the fire was too big, and snuff out his own life along with the blaze. 

“I’m barely able to cook this thing,” Abyssus grumbled, tossing a large handful of wood onto the fire as she hovered the speared fish over the dancing flames. 

“No!” Henry shouted, reaching out as if he was about to pull the burning logs out with his hands.

Glancing up at Abyssus, who was still sitting calmly with the fish over the fire, Henry caught her confused glance from the corner of her eye. Clearing his throat and retracting his arms, he forced a smile. 

“Sorry, it’s just that…your mother told me not to have the fire be too high. We don’t want a ship to spot it and come to investigate.” 

Abyssus let out an amused snort, “Don’t worry, ships never come around this area. And my mother would never hurt you, either.” 

Henry debated telling her about what Ira had threatened to him the night before, but ultimately decided against it. If Ira didn’t want her daughter to be part of the conversation, then Henry shouldn’t tell her about it. Unaware of the internal battle raging in Henry’s mind, Abyssus reached back towards his hammock and retrieved something. Dropping the romance book from the previous day in his lap, Abyssus motioned for him to read. 

“Okay, I guess we can continue,” Henry shrugged, opening the book to where he’d left off the day prior. 

With one hand still carefully cooking the tuna, Abyssus reached over and grabbed Henry before he could read a single word. Dropping him into her lap, she let out a giggle as she returned her attention to ensuring their breakfast didn’t burn. Leaning his head all the way back, Henry’s view of her face was obscured by the underside of her breasts. Staring longingly at the gap between her pink, soft, pillowy breasts, Henry desired nothing more in that moment than to bury his face in her cleavage and fall asleep. 

Suddenly, Abyssus leaned her body forward, a look of confusion on her upside down face as the two made eye contact. After a few awkward seconds of silence, it dawned on Henry that he’d been so caught up in eyeing her cleavage that he’d forgotten to continue reading. Feeling his cheeks go red with embarrassment, Henry quickly opened up the book. His whole body gently shook as Abyssus chuckled to herself, her belly pushing against his back. 

Reading with confidence, Henry continued the story where he’d left off, much to Abyssus’s excitement. Words spilled from his mouth like a waterfall as the pages flew by in a blur. He only paused when Abyssus would hold out a small chunk of tuna for him to quickly eat before continuing. The sun climbed higher into the blue, cloudless sky as the fire slowly died out from lack of attention. With her attention diverted solely on Henry, and more accurately, the story, Abyssus didn’t make a peep for hours on end. She hardly even moved, except to occasionally give Henry a sip of coconut milk for when his throat grew scratchy. Finally, as the sun was well past its highest point in the sky, Henry reached the conclusion.

“The end,” He declared, slapping the book closed and sighing in relief. 

“That was an amazing story!” Abyssus cheered, nearly knocking Henry from his perch in her lap, “I’m so glad the man and the woman ended up together. But I do have to wonder what happens to them after.” 

Henry shrugged, “Probably get married, have kids, and live the rest of their lives content.” 

“What is…marriage, exactly?” She asked, her gill stalks wobbling as she tilted her head. 

“Marriage is when a man and a woman decide that they love each other so much, they want to be together for the rest of their lives. Then they have children, and raise them. At least, that’s how it’s supposed to work,” Henry finished with a frown. 

Abyssus pounced on the change in his tone, “What’s wrong? What do you mean ‘supposed to’ work like that?” 

Henry sighed, “My parents decided that they didn’t want to raise me. Dropped me off at an orphanage right after I was born. Never even got to know them.” 

“Oh, right,” Abyssus frowned, “Sorry for bringing it up.” 

“It’s fine,” Henry shrugged, “Can’t change the past.”

Abyssus sat back, silently taking in the sight of a sad Henry in her lap. After a few moments, her face lit up with an idea as her tail eagerly thumped against the beach. 

“How about I show you a new part of the island!” Abyssus declared, jumping to her feet and cradling Henry in her arms. 

“Sure! Of course!” He replied, glancing back to make sure Ira wasn’t lurking just off shore. 

“Is something wrong?” She asked, cocking her head to the side and shaking her gills. 

“What? No, it’s fine,” Henry assured her, hoping Abyssus wasn’t good at detecting a liar. 

“Well,” Abyssus held him up to her breasts, “Let’s go! This is one of my favorite spots on the island, you’ll love it!” 

As Abyssus began making her way through the trees, Henry was able to spot the resemblance of a path. Clearly, she’d made this walk hundreds of times, if not thousands. She navigated terrain that would’ve taken Henry fifteen minutes to get through like it was nothing, her huge legs easily carrying her along. After a brief walk up a gently sloping hill, Abyssus let Henry down just behind a wall of tall ferns. Too short to see over them, Henry guessed that Abyssus wanted the reveal to be a surprise. Abyssus was bouncing in place, barely able to contain her excitement. 

“Ready? Here it is!” She cheered, pulling open a gap in the ferns. 

Henry’s eyes went wide as he stared into the huge clearing. It was a large pond, with the clearest water he’d ever seen. Slowly walking up to the edge, it was almost if the water wasn’t there all. A quick check with his hand found the water to be surprisingly warm, no doubt due to sitting in the sun every day. It felt like paradise.

“Thought you’d like it,” Abyssus said, stepping over Henry and letting her tail graze against him. 

Dramatically shaking her hips and letting her tail swing, Abyssus stepped into the pond. At its deepest point, it barely made it to her waist as she turned around to smile at Henry. Dipping her whole body beneath the water, she dramatically surfaced and pulled her purple hair back and shook out her gills. 

“I love the way freshwater feels on my gills,” She declared, stretching her arms high above her head. 

With a heavy sigh, Abyssus rested on the opposite shore of the pond, arching her back to stretch her spine. Her eyes settled on Henry, her slits narrowing slightly. 

“Come on in! The water’s fine,” She smiled, motioning for him to join. 

“Uh, okay,” Henry shrugged, removing his shoes and socks before taking a cautious step into the water. 

“No. Take off everything,” Abyssus demanded, before adding a quiet, “Please.” 

Henry froze for a moment, considering whether or not he wanted to strip down. Given how Abyssus had treated his shirt, it was likely his pants would be given the same treatment if he didn’t comply. Sighing, he slowly unbuckled his pants. 

Resting his clothes on a flat rock, Henry felt his face going red as he stood before Abyssus, fully nude. Her eyes were focused on him, studying him from head to toe. He couldn’t help but notice her yellow-green eyes lingered around his pelvis a tad longer than he liked. Stepping into the crystal clear water to find it was the perfect temperature, Henry slowly swam over to where Abyssus was resting. 

However, upon reaching the giant, pink sea creature, he found that resting was the last thing she was doing. She was fidgeting with her hands, unsure whether to hold them at her sides, together, or crossed. Her butt moved side to side, as though she couldn’t quite find the perfect spot to sit. As he took a seat beside her on the rocks, he noticed Abyssus’s tail was twitching back and forth. Something was clearly on her mind. 

“Whatcha thinking about?” Henry asked. 

“Hmm? Oh, uh, nothing!” 

Henry was unconvinced, but decided not to push it and change the subject, “This spring is beautiful.” 

“It truly is,” Abyssus nodded.

“It’s not a bad place to wash up,” He added, rubbing his arm to find the grime didn’t wash off easily. 

“I could help you!” Abyssus eagerly offered before collecting herself, “I mean, if you want me to.” 

“By my guest,” Henry shrugged, rolling onto his stomach. 

With a wide, toothy grin, Abyssus pushed herself from the shore and swam into the spring, making a wide arc as she slowly crept up behind him. Were he not aware of her originally, Henry would’ve been completely oblivious to the fifty foot girl sneaking up behind him. Rather than pounce on her prey, Abyssus carefully reached out and placed the pads of her fingers on his back. Lubricated by her slimy skin, her fingers effortlessly glided across his back. 

Closing his eyes, Henry took in the sensations of Abyssus gently massaging his shoulders. Her hands moved masterfully over his aching back, his pain vanishing beneath her touch. He’d seen her rip a man in half with the same hands now carefully running across his skin, and he didn’t worry for a minute she’d abuse her strength over him. 

Cupping her palm, Abyssus gently poured a handful of water across his back, washing away the last of the grime. It was like a weight had been lifted from Henry’s chest. The last remnants of the Goddess of Death and the pain Captain Lucifer had subjected him to were gone like sand in the wind. 

“There we go!” Abyssus declared, “How did that feel?” 

“Amazing,” Henry sighed, feeling like he was as close to heaven as could be, “Thank you, Aby.” 

The leviathan quickly laid down beside him, rolling to her side with a quizzical expression, “Who’s ‘Aby’?” 

Henry rolled onto his side to meet her expression with one of his own, “You’ve never heard of a nickname?” 

“No,” Abyssus shook her head, leaning in closer with eager eyes, “Tell me more.” 

“It’s pretty simple, really. Just take someone’s name and shorten it. Abyssus is shortened to Aby. You can give me a nickname if you want.” 

Abyssus thought for a long moment before ultimately shaking her head, “No, I like Henry! It’s…unique. I haven’t heard many names, to be honest. Just mine, my mother’s, and—” 

Henry saw something inside Abyssus as her eyes went wide. The realization she’d ventured somewhere she shouldn’t have, most likely at the instruction of her mother. Before he could pry further, Henry realized that possibly invoking Ira’s wrath was the last thing he wanted to do. 

It seemed Abyssus had the same idea and quickly changed her position from laying down to sitting up, pulling herself almost entirely out of the water. Copying her, Henry sat down beside her thigh and looked up at her, marveling at just how tall she was. No matter how many times he looked at her, he’d never get tired of the sheer size difference between them. And that size difference would only grow, until she was the size of her mother. 

After getting lost daydreaming what Abyssus would look like, Henry realized that she’d gone oddly silent. Casting a glance up at her face, he saw Abyssus staring off into the distance, her mouth barely twitching as though she was reciting a line to herself. Taking a deep breath, she turned to face Henry. 

“Henry…” She paused, swallowing nervously, “I’ve been thinking about this for a while…” 

A burst of fear shot through Henry’s body. He could already tell where Abyssus was heading, and he wasn’t sure how he felt about it. 

Abyssus took another deep breath in a clear attempt to calm her nerves, “Whenever we’ve been hanging out, I just feel this certain way. I’ve never felt like this before in my entire life, just when I’m…with you.” 

Shock had taken hold of Henry, he couldn’t speak, he couldn’t move, there was nothing he could do but listen. 

“I-I want to kiss you, Henry. A real kiss. I just felt like I had to finally tell you about how I feel,” Abyssus confessed. 

Even if Henry knew what to say, any words he managed to form were doomed to get caught in his throat. After a few agonizing moments of silence, Abyssus made her move. 

She dropped down to her hands and knees, slowly creeping towards her target. Henry’s heart was pounding against his chest so loudly he swore Abyssus could hear it. He tried to lean away from Abyssus, but her hand was quick to reach around his back, holding him in place. Her breathing became hastened, ripe with anticipation. Abyssus’s mouth slowly opened, just enough for him to gaze inside and see her forked tongue lying in wait like a snake preparing to pounce. 

As her face inched closer, Henry could feel her breath on his skin. His hair fluttered with every exhale. Her yellow-green eyes closed as she took a final breath. Henry was excited, but fear was forcing its way into his mind until all he could think about was what Ira would do if she suddenly appeared and caught them. With her lips merely a foot away from his face and closing in fast, Henry panicked and put his arms up to block her, his palm pressing against her pillowy lips. 

Abyssus’s eyes shot open, her pupils narrowing into thin slits as she focused on Henry. Upon realizing what was happening, her entire body seemed to change. Her shoulders dropped and her bottom lip began to quiver. Turning away and sitting up straight, Abyssus released her grip on Henry and let him fall back against the rock. It was the first time he’d seen Abyssus sad since he’d set her free. The two of them entered a long silence that seemed to stretch on as the shadows grew along the ground. 

“I-I…” Abyssus began, her voice shaky, “I guess I should head back now.” 

Abruptly standing up, she waded through the spring to the other side and began walking through the trees without saying another word. Chasing after her, Henry realized he stood no chance of making it through the forest in time to catch her. Bursting through the tree line to the beach, all he was met with were a few massive footprints heading into the ocean. 

Guilt tore through Henry as he watched the sea, hoping that maybe Abyssus would come back and he could explain himself. Sadly, it proved to not be the case. He’d done what Ira wanted, and in turn kept himself alive, but seeing the way it crushed Abyssus made Henry wish he would’ve just kissed her. Head hung low in shame, Henry returned to his hammock, wishing he was falling asleep in the warm, comforting arms of Abyssus.