Aquata Cove

Chapter 84: Abandon Naught

Merrick drifts himself through the water, fully equipped with his sharkteeth and shells, along with his harpoon mounted on his back. His tail waves up and down, just slowly moving himself in no direction in particular. He signals on instinct around him, though he could really care less if there was anything threatening in his vicinity.

His eyes look up, and see a large tube of moving water. A rushing current, giving an unknown predestined destination, strong and fast...

Merrick kicks his tail up, and forces his way straight into the current.

~~~

The sound of forlorn guitars ticks along the stage of the Dream Waltz, hitting a mid-day themed melody for several lines, before the sound of rapid drums pick up the beat in a faster pace.

The stage is decorated in a post-apocalyptic backdrop with complementing props and items here and about.

Two people, a man and a woman, both of them looking identical, twins even, dressed in punk-rock style apparel, adorned with bronze chains around their legs and across their torsos as they hold their respective mics.

"~Giiiiiive meee a reason to stay'heeerrrre~" The male said as he starts them off, "~Cause Iiiiiiiiiiiii don't want to live in fear~"

"~I can't stop the raaaa~iiiin~" The female sings taking a step forward, "~But I can stop the teeeee~aaaars ~Oh I can fight the fiiiirrrre ~But I can't fight the feee~aaar~"

"~No mooooooorrrre~" The twins sing simultaneously, "~I just can't liiiiive(~No mooooorrreee~)here~"

"~I can't take it ~Can't take it~" He sings.

"~No mooooorrrrre~" She sings.

"~What do we stand foooOOOOor~" The brother and sister sang at the same time again, "~When we all live in feeee~aaaar?~"

The rock music rings in an short interlude as the siblings switch places on the stage.

Meanwhile, Merrick flies through the current, giving no thought into where or when he's exactly going in this tunnel of invisibly forceful water. Images keep flashing in his head, for some odd reason. He can see Adam falling from the cliff from the siren's singing, and into the ocean, falling into and landing safely onto the boat, where the point of view shifted from a lying perspective, Adam holding Merrick in his arms, before they ended up in a room, Merrick secreting oil while Adam tries to bathe him.

"~Giiiiive me a reason to beeeeelieve~" The sister continues, "~Cause you don't waaaaanna see meeeeee leave~"

"~I can't stop the rain ~But I can stop the teeee~aaars~" The brother goes on, "~Oh, I can fight the fiiii~rrrre ~But I can't fight the feeeaaaar~"

"~No mooooorrrre~!"

"~I just can't live here no mooorreeee ~"

"~I can't take it ~Can't take it~"

"~No moooooorrre~" They sing simultaneously, "~What do we stand fooooOOOoor ~When we all ~Live in feeee~aaaar?~"

Merrick allows the water to pull and launch him in so many different directions and places, closing his eyes as he phases through everything. More images swim through his head as he goes, his Mother burning the back of his neck with his mark, whirling in heat and weakness before curled up in a room of constant sunlight that burns his whole body, before getting up and running as he sees Adam's body jerk and thrash as lightning ravaged him in the inside. The view turns to show humans with huge weapons poised at him, right before a crack of a roar shot, and Adam flies through the air, getting hit with a tiny killer, landing and bleeding like a river on the grass.

"~No mooooorrrre~!" The brother said, "~What do we stand fooOOoor... When we all live in,~"

"~No moooorrrrrre~!"

"~I just can't live here no mooorreeee ~"

"~I can't take it ~Can't take it~"

"~No moooooorrre ~What do we stand fooooOOOoor ~When we all ~Live in feeee~aaaar?~"

The music calms down as the strings of the invisible guitar dwindles down to a finish, idly ending the song as the twins walk in a angst style.

Merrick slows his swimming, finding himself exiting the current while he swims away, imagining when he and Adam had that petty fight on the cruise, or when the three monstrous Scyllas nearly made Merrick become a freak of the black sun.

His last mental images is that of Adam sleeping in eternal slumber in a white gown with too many tubes into his body, neither alive or dead as well as one can tell, with a plastic dome over his mouth so he can breathe. Those human eyes would open, with nothing but emptiness to show for himself, blank and clueless, forever cursed with his sense of loss.

"... No more..." Merrick muttered, "No more..." He swims forth further, unknown as to where he has gone in this vast ocean.

~~~

"So Adam. Says here you've had an episode last night." Yuri said as she looks at the chart, "'Patient exhibited extreme anxious behavior, heightened blood pressure, emotional distress.'" She looks at Adam now. His eyes are pink and swollen and his face is pale; he just seems to be giving off a very sad disposition.

"Mn..." Adam looks downward, at the magnet links. He had started to play with them an hour ago, but for some reason, he's lost interest in them totally.

"Adam, I am your doctor." She said as she walks to his side, and sits down, "If anything is wrong with you, I need to know upfront. Otherwise, I can't treat you." Adam sniffs as be wipes his eyes for a moment, "Now what aren't you telling me? What's gotten you so upset?"

"... I don't know..." Adam said lowly, "Dr Yuri, I have no idea why I feel like I keep bawling my eyes out... I just feel like I'm falling apart inside, and I don't know why... Gheh, even if I did, it's not like I'll ever remember, right?"

"I'm sorry, Adam..." Yuri said lowly. Adam huffs as he rubs his eyes again. "Look... Do you want me to get your therapist? She might help you through this, you know."

Adam paused, before he shook his head, "No... I don't want to try... Why bother if I'm not even going to remember her..."

"Adam, the emotional stress you're causing yourself is dangerous to your physical health. If things don't improve with it soon, it will have some unpleasant repercussions, you might even get worse than you are now."

"I don't care." Adam said thickly, "I don't want to forget anymore... I don't wanna forget anymore..."

"Don't do this, Adam." Yuri said as she shakes her head, "You're hurting my friend in more ways than one. Your vitals are already making me nervous."

"I don't even know what that means." Adam said with his voice weak and withered with saddened emotion. "And honestly... I don't really want to care... Can you please just make me sleep now?"

"Adam, I can't. Your body can't take another dose right now. Just relax and build the magnets, and everything will be fine."

"Aggghhhh..." Adam sighs as he lets his head rest to the side, "No thanks..."

Yuri frowns sadly before she glances out the window. 'Of all times to run off, Merrick... Where the hell are you right now??'

~~~

Savarna swims through the sea, her eyes following a school of Halo Oarfish. They are thin, and rather short, about only 12 inches long, but they spiral and circle in large schools, and only come out during the morning light to feed.

She laughs as she watches the beautiful coils and turns of the elongated fish. The Adra Noita smiles with glee as a stream of them flow right to her, and circled around her playfully in a brief ring around her before swimming away to the bigger stream.

Everywhere she looked, there is a flash of bright light, a hint of rainbow in each one, reflecting the sun's light. She takes a breath, and blows out a breeze of ice crystals around, making the schools flurry in a different direction, before she blows at another section, and having them take another different route in the curling raids.

They dip and fly all around, sometimes another rush of the smaller oarfish coming to circle her, and then leave just as quickly in their reflective river-like formations.

Savarna twirls about, before she stops. She spotted something odd on the sandy bottom floor, among the rocks and several branches of coral. Out of curiosity, she swims downward, peering her eyes to try and make out the shape as she goes.

Eventually, her eyes lay upon a blue and silver-white merman, lying upon one of the rocks as his fins roll and sway with the flows of the ocean.

"Brother!" Savarna smiles and squeals with excitement as she jets towards him, "Brother! You are here! I did not see you! Hehehe!" The young mermaid darts to and around Merrick, putting her hands on him, "It has been several moons since we last spoke! What are you doing here??"

She waited for a response. After several seconds, her blessed eyes can see very little movement inside Merrick's aura... If not none at all. "Brother, wake up!" She said with a playful tug to his sides, but getting no reaction from it. "Come with me! There are Halo Oarfish about!" She races upwards from him, and then looks back down. Merrick has not moved.

"Brother?" She asked curiously, before swimming back down. She moved to in front of her sibling, and looked. His eyes are open, sure enough, looking rather tired.

"Brother? Can you hear me?" She asked as she pushed him softly. She looks behind her, and tugs at him again, "Come, I want you to meet my friend, she is over there!" The Adra Noita turns again, taking Merrick's hand, and swims quickly, only to have Merrick's hand slip from hers. She turns again, seeing him fold his arm back in.

"Brother?" She comes again, "Brother, why aren't you doing anything?" She sees a steady mist issuing from his eyes, as he stares at one spot. "Are you grieving? What has happened? Brother?"

Looking into his eyes yields... Nothing. Umiato always says she can look into one's soul and taste their memories through a single glance into their eyes. Merrick shows nothing... "Brother."

Merrick shifted, and puts his face into his arms, and then stops moving again, "Brother?" Savarna pushes him lightly, but has only gotten the same result he has been giving her.

"Awh..." She looks sadly down, before sniffing, and turning around, determining that he no longer wants to see her, but would rather be alone.

~~~

Adam rubs his brow as he looks at his laptop, after having read the previous entry, which seems to be incomplete:

---

Dear Diary,

I don't really know what to put here. Someone gave this laptop to me, and I guess I'm supposed to put my thoughts and feelings into it. But I don't really know who it was who gave it to me.

Well, I guess.

I feel lonely, right now. Dr Yuri is out for the night, I think, I haven't seen her for a while. I kinda feel a little safer when she's around though.

In general, I just don't feel right. I feel some kind of pain in my chest. I'm pretty sure I talked about it before. I feel like something is sinking down inside me. I really should tell Dr Yuri about it, but I don't want to make her worried if it's something she doesn't know how to fix. I don't think it's a medical problem.

I guess I also feel empty. Dr Yuri always tells me when I've had a visitor, but she's the only person I can really remember.

Actually, that's not true. I think I remember someone else. Someone with yellow hair, and blue eyes, and maybe they were red? I can't... Yeah, I can't remember.

I also feel sad. I'm sad all the time. I know I can't remember just how long I've been in this hospital, but I feel like I'm sad almost all the time. I just can't feel happy, at all. I don't even know what happy is supposed to feel like, right? I just feel like... I don't want to be here. I don't know anyone, and I don't know anything, I just want to

---

Adam can't begin to imagine just what he was doing or thinking at the time, but according to a little note in the screen of his computer, he's supposed to write another entry. Adam sighs as he puts his hands forward again.

---

Dear Diary,

Here I am again. I'm supposed to write in you. The outside looks ok, I guess. A lot of clouds, like it's going to rain. I think my memory's getting better -- I think I can remember two women who came to see me a while ago. One of them had this strange accent and a brightly colored cloth around her head, and the other one was dark blonde, and I can only remember she had a blaring voice, and I feel a tinge of annoyance from having spoken to her. Was she really my friend?

See? I think I can remember someone for a little while once they leave me, but I can already see the details slipping from me. I can't even remember if they have names.

Anyway, Dr Yuri says my psychologist has estimated my memory problems to a point where I don't forget so quickly, but I still can't really remember anything about what happened yesterday, or the day before that, and so on.

I still feel empty inside. I told Dr Yuri about this hole I have in my chest, and she said she's no expert in the matter -- supposedly, I'm physically doing fine. But I have this note from my psychologist that I still remember someone, in a way where I don't know them, but I miss them. Doesn't really make sense, but it's the only thing I got to really try and explain this feeling. I do feel like somebody needs to be with me, like I need someone with me right now, but I haven't felt anything to change this feeling, regardless of who might've visited me.

I also keep having these headaches. I need Dr Yuri to give me more medicine, but she keeps saying my body needs to be paced, or else I'll suffer a relapse or an overdose, whatever that means.

---

"Uggh..." Adam groaned as he rubbed his forehead. Writing in this diary is more tiring that it should be, but it's SOME kind of a relief too. He just rolls his head, and continues to type.

---

You know how some people like to eat endlessly because they're depressed? Well, I'm kind of the exact opposite. I kinda just want to be empty for a while. Maybe if I throw up? I don't know, I don't think Dr Yuri would be happy with me if I did that. She'll just probably give me this sad look and shake her head again.

I don't even want to play with my magnet things anymore. Who cares if I can remember how to put them together? There's something else bothering me, and I don't know what, and no body will tell me. Or if they do, I've probably just forgot. I can't stand this. I hate that I can't remember anything.

---

Adam stops. His hands go up to his face as he massages it for a few seconds. His stomach feels deep as it churns. He can hear the machine beep faster as his blood pressure rises from his anxiety. He closes his laptop, and puts it to the side.

~~~

Merrick feels hunger claw from the depths of his stomach, for some time now in fact. He can't remember the last time he's eaten, but it's like... He can't stand the very idea of food. Though this sharp, hollow pain stabs his guts almost constantly, Merrick cannot find the desire to eat.

He swims aimlessly though the ocean. Over the past couple of days since he's left, he has not seen or encountered a single merfolk anywhere, or if he has, he has simply ignored them. As a Coshiton, he will never have the right to approach any pod for any reason at all - trade, refuge, guidance. So what would it matter? Triton Bertone and Noita Rayette, of the Amnien merfolk, still see and give affection to him, as does Triton Olaroc and Noita Shazde of the Holsiens acknowledge him.

How has it come that merfolk, as a rule, have become so divided, that some can overlook and forgive a rogue when they see one, but merfolk, such as Triton Kaiken, simply sees a Coshiton as a disease on nautical civility. What would happen if he were to meet Triton Samudra, who once embodied the same narrow and discriminatory sentiment, until he too was cast out for breaking one of the Sacred Laws?

Merrick breaks the surface of the water, seeing the dusk sky above him as he approaches a nearby rock. He grunts as he pulls himself out of the water, rushing from his glimmering tail and wavering membranes on either side. His webbed hands plant onto the large boulder and setting his weapon aside, before he lies himself down. His eyes look to the partial moon above, already present with the sun setting.

Samudra openly admits that he too once believed that all Coshitons don't deserve the right to live, once having to commit their crimes. Their existences considered forfeit for what they've done, having to take away their connection to the pod, their weapon destroyed, and their own flesh burned and branded with a permanent mark that will never disappear is somehow generous to give to one brazen enough to commit an act of treason against their own kind.

That was until it was revealed that half of the Sacred Laws that have been established rule out against things merfolk can't even control. Samudra never refused to choose a mate by his 51st red moon, his mate was never even present at the time.

Even if Vanora happened to be there when Samudra fell in love with her BEFORE he was exiled, he would have been cast out anyway; He is an Armor Turtle, and she is a Lion Fish. Holsien and Piscien, two different species mating together is a violation of all three creeds of merfolk. Samudra never stood a chance against the Laws, his fate was already written a long time ago, as is with everyone's from the moment they're born, some theorize. Or it could be that Samudra could have never found Vanora, who knows?

But Samudra could have had no one else. Either that is the Waves of Fate punishing him for his archaic narrow mind, or a script that just isn't in his favor.

And so what about other open-minded merfolk? Could they not band together, with other Coshitons, what few there are, and show that they are not alone? Whether what they did was right or wrong, don't they all deserve mercy? A Triton can tell with a judge of character, right? A Noita can see them in earnest with just a glance, can they not? And yet they openly are obligated to reject any lone rogue that crosses their path.

Or are the Ningyo just that ruthless? Are those ancient sentinels truly so blind to circumstance that they will slay any Coshiton brave enough to come back to their family, or to punish a pod who harbor an oceanic criminal?

~~~

Kevin walks out of the bathroom, letting out the steam from his shower as he rubs the towel into his hair. Just then, Syrinx walks in front of him, adjusting her armaments of shells and kelp again, "Hey babe... What're you wearing that for?"

"I'm going to the Kenovani." She said, "They need me."

Kevin glances at her shell fragment around her neck. "No they don't... Your thing isn't glowing."

"Oh I..." She said as she looks at it, "It only activate once as a signal. I need to go to them right away."

"Wait, stop, stop right there." Kevin says as he strides around her, blocking her path, "Syrinx, why are you lying to me?" Syrinx looks up at her tall boyfriend's eyes.

"... He needs me right now, Kevin. I already asked Yuri if I can talk to him, but she said he's already gone off to the sea. I need to find him, before things get worse." She said as she walks around him

"Syrinx, wait, stop!" Kevin raised his voice, grabbing her by the arm.

"Kevin, let go of me, you're hurting my arm!"

"Babe, listen to me." Kevin then puts his hands on her shoulders, "This isn't your fight. I know how you feel, but this is something a man needs to figure out on his own."

"Kevin, you don't understand." She persisted, "When we ran into him, there was NOTHING in his eyes. We didn't even see him until he literally bumped into us. That isn't NORMAL, Kevin."

"Look, I care about Merrick just as much as you do, and I feel for Adam on a very close scale. I understand that you feel like there's something you need to do, but this isn't the type of thing you should get involved with."

"Yeah, like when I told you not to go to Merrick when we were on the cruise?"