As he appeared yet again in a place he had never seen before, Blaine could hear Ming's voice in his head.

We would be living in a better place.

The words made the short man laugh. He didn't need a better place. All he needed was his Kurt and his old life back. All the worlds he had seen so far had been horrible and he knew that he could only be happy if he went back to his own reality. He just didn't know how.

Unless... He could remember Ming telling him a simple truth that 'all actions have consequences.' And just now the man told him that every person and animal was significant in shaping the world.

"If I change anything, the world is going to change," he whispered as the realization hit him.

That was his answer and now the man knew what had to be done. He would just stand there and wait until he is transported back to his old life. On the other hand, it's not like he couldn't look around.

It wasn't much to see as the only thing surrounding him was what seemed to be a green hedge. It was tall and Blaine couldn't have seen anything even if he jumped. He could only look up to see that it was a beautiful sunny day without any clouds in the sky. Somewhere far from him he could hear people chatting and a soft music playing.

Blaine only hoped that he wouldn't need to stand there for a very long time as he wanted to go back to his life as soon as he could. His relationship with Kurt may not be perfect and his job was less than satisfactory but at least he could be happy there if he just tried harder. He promised himself that he would.

It couldn't be more than five minutes later that Blaine heard steps getting closer. Hoping that this person wouldn't see him, he held his breath and waited. Unfortunately for him, a girl slightly younger than him appeared from around the corner. She was wearing a beautiful dress and from what he had learnt while Kurt was studying fashion history, he recognised similarities to the eighteenth century clothing.

"Hello," she said with a soft voice.

"Hi," Blaine responded politely as he was raised to have good manners. "Shit, no, forget me!"

The girl giggled. "I don't remember seeing you enter the labyrinth with us. Did you come in late?"

Blaine nodded as his hope to not change anything burst into a thin air.

The girl eyed his suspiciously. "Who did you come here with?" she enquired.

"Lord White," the lawyer offered quickly, the last name of one of his biggest clients popping into his head.

"Oh," the girl nodded in recognition. "You must be his younger cousin. Well, it was a pleasure to meet you but I have the game to win. I'll see you outside if you manage to get out."

"Sure" Blaine forced a smile and the girl disappeared in one of the many paths while giggling softly.

Now that he had already altered the future, the man decided he could let himself explore the eighteenth century even if was only this labyrinth. It was still more fun than standing in one place and waiting for the magic travel to happen.

Having decided to go the different direction than the girl, Blaine turned around and a moment later the green hedge disappeared.

Instead, he was standing on rocky seashore; the water almost still as there was no wind. A couple of people were walking and admiring the view but Blaine couldn't see a familiar face so he decided against talking to them. Now he needed to find where Kurt was, not to chat with random people.

As the man looked around he immediately found a good starting point. Further from the sea he could see a small Bar & Grill place which seemed to be open. Quickly making his decision, Blaine walked closer to the building and saw that it was in fact open and a few people were eating there. He entered and sat down close to the people, pretending to look at the menu while he tried to eavesdrop.

Follow your instincts, he remembered Ming's words. Well, his instincts were telling him that these people may help him find his husband.

"Mr I-know-everything Jackson says that it's another drunk who fell into the sea. Bullshit, I'm telling ya, friend. I knew Chandler and I'll tell ya, the bloke had no problem with alcohol. Actually, he rarely drank any!" one man stated with his mouth full of burger.

"He went on the rocks and fell. Mystery solved," another responded and took a sip of cola.

"Ha! Fell? More like he was pulled into the water and drowned!"

That caught Blaine's interest.

"Oh please, I know what you are thinking but just because you don't like merpeople, it doesn't mean that they are killers," the guy said with boredom and Blaine guessed that this topic was common between the two of them.

"They might be beautiful and all that crap, but nice outside doesn't mean nice inside. Mark my words," the man said and took a big bite of his burger again.

At that time a waitress came to Blaine and began talking to him so he couldn't hear the rest of their conversation. The lawyer told her he needed more time and when she left, he continued to listen to the men.

"–chestnut hair, lean human body with a sparkly indigo tail, glasz eyes, pale skin... The most beautiful creature I have ever seen," the calm man finished.

"Excuse me," Blaine cut in as the description reminded him of his husband. "Who were you talking about?"

The men looked at him with curiosity but no anger for listening to their conversation. It was actually quite difficult not to hear in such a small, quiet place.

"The merman, who lives not far from here," the same man who described the creature told him. "I've seen him a few weeks ago when I was on a fishing trip with a couple of friends."

"Merman? They don't exist... Do they?" Blaine asked not even sure why he questioned anything anymore.

"Oh, hello-o," the anti-mermen spoke with mockery. "Were you living under a rock? The mermen were discovered ages ago."

Blaine was no longer surprised by anything at that point. "And the one you were telling about? Where can I find him? You see, I've never seen one of them," he explained hoping that it would be enough for the men.

"Approximately a mile away from here to the East there is this cave. I don't know for sure but some people say that he lives there. He may not be there all the time and I've never been there but I've heard people talking about it. If you want to see him, you may try to get inside and maybe you'll be lucky enough to catch a glimpse of him."

"Oh no, no, no, my friend, do not go seeking for the monster," the other man spoke threateningly. "Unless you have a death wish."

Blaine shrugged and stood up. "I won't get close to him so he can't harm me. I'll be okay," the lawyer said to calm down the man even though deep down he knew he couldn't stay away from Kurt. "Have a nice evening, gentlemen."

"He's as good as dead, I'll tell ya," was the last thing he heard before exiting the place.

The walk to the cave that the man had told him about wasn't easy for Blaine. His shoes weren't made for walking on rocks and definitely weren't water proof, which would have helped him a lot as he later found himself walking inside the dark cave, where the sun could hardly reach and there was no dry place on the ground to set a foot on. It was all rocks and where there was some flat surface, the water was up to his ankles.

After struggling for half an hour Blaine finally found an area which looked like it could be a decent living place for a magical creature. In the middle of it there was a lakelet about the size of a swimming pool his parents had at home and just as clean. The ceiling equivalent of rocks was pretty low but it was high enough for Blaine to walk comfortably. Thankfully, it wasn't very dark there as there was an opening right above the middle of the lakelet.

Blaine came closer to the water, grateful that the floor wasn't covered with it anymore, and kneeled to look down. The water was so clean that he could see the bottom and the lakelet didn't seem to be deep. He could see corals and a few colourful fishes swimming peacefully.

Suddenly a ripple came from the far corner and Blaine looked at that direction. He could see a shadow, which was swaying to the sides, on the rocky wall.

"Hello?" Blaine spoke gently, trying his best not to startle the person in the water.

The swaying stopped and the water slowly became still.

"I'm not going to hurt you," the lawyer spoke again, hoping that he wasn't left alone.

The movement began again and timidly a head peeked from the hiding. "Really?" a soft voice asked.

"Really," Blaine's smile widened when he recognized his husband. "I just want to talk to you. I've never talked to a merman."

"Never?" the man obviously got curious and came from his hiding at his full glory.

Blaine's eyes widened as he saw the man he had been living with for several years with a long fishy tail. Of course, it was very pretty, especially when the sunlight hit the surface of the water and intensified the colour, but it was still weird to see him like that.

"Never," Blaine assured him and sat down on his heels. "I had never even seen one before you. You are stunning."

The merman blushed and lowered his eyes. "Thank you," he slowly got closer and was only a few meters away from Blaine when he spoke again. "Do you have a name?"

"Blaine."

"Blaine..." Kurt tried it out loud. "I've never heard such name but it's pretty. It's my new favourite name. Do you..." the merman bit his bottom lip in embarrassment. "Would you like to know my name?"

Blaine nodded instantly. "Yes, of course. I bet it's as beautiful as you are."

"It's Kurt," he said and swam even closer to Blaine until his delicate fingers grabbed the rocks right next to the other man's hand.

"Kurt... I knew it was the most beautiful name in the world," Blaine breathed as the closeness of Kurt made his heart beat faster.

The merman looked straight into his eyes and spoke. "I don't know why but I feel like I can trust you."

"You can," the lawyer said as he counted Kurt's eyelashes. They were so long and made his eyes look even prettier than he remembered. "I will never hurt you."

Kurt gingerly reached for Blaine head and ran his fingers over his gel helmet. "I have never seen hair like yours. They are weird but you look good."

Trying not to startle the boy, the lawyer slowly brought his hand to Kurt's, feeling the need to touch him, to be as close as possible, and placed it on the cold hand. "I'm glad you like it."

The merman smiled softly and blushed again. "Do you believe in love at the first sight?" he asked shyly.

"I do," Blaine said admiring the other man's lips. "If I had to guess, I would say we knew each other in our previous lives because I feel like I have known you forever."

"I feel the same way, Blaine," Kurt said and the lawyer's heart melted at the words.

Kurt slid his hand down and cupped Blaine's cheek. "I've heard that kissing a person you love is magical," he said blushing deep red.

"It really is," Blaine agreed and leaned slightly forward.

He needed Kurt's kisses more than anything else in the world. He could give his life just to be granted one touch of the beautiful merman's lips.

"I love you, Blaine."

"I love you, Kurt."

It all happened like in a slow motion movie. They both closed the gap between them and their lips met for a gentle kiss. Kurt's lips were cold and wet against Blaine's warm soft ones but it still made the lawyer's heart explode.

Nothing existed around them anymore. There was no Ming, no dead or killer Kurt, nothing except the lips against his and the hands on his wrists that were pulling him forwards. It didn't matter that he got into the water with his clothes. It was the least important thing that his head was under water and his lungs filled with liquid. Kurt's love and his slowly moving lips were all that mattered in the world.

They never broke the kiss and Blaine sighed happily as he fell into the darkness, his body sinking down together with Kurt.

Blaine was still in a dreamy state when he got back to consciousness. He could still feel Kurt's lips lingering on his own and the happiness that overcame him the moment their lips touch. It wasn't until he remembered the aftermath that he snapped his eyes open.

"Oh, good to see you awake," Ming spoke from somewhere next to him.

"My husband just killed me," Blaine choked, not even sure how his lungs felt so normal.

"And?" Ming asked as he put something in his mouth and chewed.

"My. Husband. Just. Killed. Me," Blaine managed and growled in frustration.

The Asian chuckled. "Oh, don't be a drama queen. He simply made you not-alive until I revived you."

"Isn't it the same?" Blaine asked and squirmed as his back hurt.

"Similar. Only that 'dead' sounds so finite while 'not-alive' gives you a promise to be alive again one day," Ming explained even though it didn't really make any sense to Blaine. "Pumpkin seeds?"

Blaine opened his eyes as he felt a shadow above them and saw a small clear bag with pumpkin seeds in it. "No, thanks."

"Good because I didn't intend to share anyway," the man laughed and continued munching on the seeds, carefully placing the skins in his pocket.

"Fuck, my back hurts," Blaine whined rolled on his side.

"It might have something to do with the fact that you are lying on the rocks. Though I may be mistaken."

"Seriously? You have that crazy magic of yours and you make me lie on the fucking rocks?" Blaine rolled his eyes as he sat down and now his butt hurt. He slowly stood up, his head getting slightly dizzy.

"It's all about positioning yourself," the old man explained as he looked at the sunset. "I found a very nice hollow, perfectly shaped for my butt. If you look well, you may find one for yourself."

"I don't need to. I want to travel away from here. Come on, send me away," Blaine asked and took Ming's hand.

He placed it on his shoulder but nothing happened.

It made the man laugh. "No questions this time?"

Blaine shrugged and released the Asian's hand. "I figured it out. As long as I don't change anything in the place you send me to, the future won't change. Pretty easy. Though, give me a second... Can you explain me how me talking to a girl influenced the existence of merpeople?"

"Merpeople do exist, it's just that people hadn't discovered them yet in your world," Ming told him. "That girl you talked to was supposed to leave the labyrinth earlier than she did due to you making her stop for a little bit. There were people outside who waited for the youngsters to finish their competition. There were these two travellers. They began to discuss their future trip but they got interrupted by the girl exiting the labyrinth. They never finished their conversation and never travelled together.

"You delayed the girl and they managed to make more solid plans. A couple of months later they organized a ship, a crew and travelled for a while. One day they found a wounded woman somewhere in the sea. When they got closer they saw that this person had a tail. It was the very first mermaid ever seen by a man. At least the first man who got to live and tell the tale."

"It's crazy," Blaine shook his head as he couldn't believe that such a tiny change could have such a great impact.

"Life is crazy," Ming said and this time Blaine was ready for the man to touch his shoulder, which he, of course, did.

The magic wind mixed with the natural one and Blaine closed his eyes, for the first time enjoying the fresh magical feeling.