The Hidden World of Pazvu

An Original Story by: Sylvia Almenario

Chapter 3

What He Couldn't Save

Eli didn’t speak right away.

The air felt different that evening—quieter than usual. Even the wind seemed to move more slowly, as if it knew something heavy was about to be said.

Via sat beside him, waiting.

Zhen stood a few steps away.

“I used to come here with someone,” Eli finally said.

His voice was calm—but not steady.

Via glanced at him. “Someone important?”

Eli smiled faintly.

“Yeah… her name was Asha.”

The name lingered in the air.

Zhen’s fingers curled slightly at her side.

“She liked the water,” Eli continued. “Said it made her feel free. Like nothing could touch her when she was near it.”

He let out a soft breath.

“I didn’t really understand it back then.”

Via stayed quiet. She could feel something shifting—something deeper than the words.

“We went here one night,” Eli said. “It was supposed to be simple. Just… a quiet night celebrating together.”

His gaze dropped.

“But something felt off.”

Zhen’s chest tightened.

“I remember thinking I should’ve stayed closer to her,” he went on. “I should’ve noticed.”

The silence grew heavier.

“She didn’t tell me anything. Not that night.”

Via swallowed. “What happened?”

Eli looked out toward the horizon.

“She just vanished. The water swallowed her. I thought I saw something beneath the water… something unfamiliar.

But when I tried to remember it later, everything felt blurred.”

Almost like he still couldn’t believe it.

“She went for a swim while I was preparing dinner. I thought she’d be okay. She always loved the water.”

His voice broke, just for a second.

“But she didn’t come back up.”

Zhen closed her eyes.

She remembered it.

The panic.

The way the water had trembled around Asha.

She had felt it—every second of it.

She had tried.

But she couldn’t break the rule.

She couldn’t let herself be seen.

“I was there,” Eli whispered. “I saw the ripples… I saw where she went under.”

He clenched his hands.

“And I couldn’t do anything.”

Via looked at him, her chest aching.

“I keep thinking…” Eli continued, softer now, “if I had just stayed closer… if I had just noticed sooner…”

He shook his head.

“Maybe she’d still be here.”

The silence that followed wasn’t empty.

It was full of everything he didn’t say.

Zhen slowly opened her eyes.

Her gaze drifted toward the water.

She had been there too.

Close enough to feel Asha’s fear.

Close enough to almost reach her.

But not enough to save her.

And now—

The man who lost her

was standing right in front of her.

Not knowing.

Not understanding.

And somehow…

still finding his way back to the water.

To her.

Via looked between them.

Something felt wrong.

Something unspoken.

And she knew—

this was only the beginning of something much deeper.