Sea Stars & Wishes

Chapter 5

Lyrika

Lyrika stares sadly at Song. He only clenches his jaw and turns in the water, his scaled back to her. That's when she really notices the patches of missing scales, and how colorless he truly looks. Suddenly it feels like something grips her- a heavy tight sensation that makes Lyrika catch her breath and hold it. Song needs to say something, anything.

"I am...," Song says after a moment, "I'm sick. There's nothing to do." Lyrika's lungs tremble as she releases her breath. The suffocating feeling disappears but is quickly replaced with a heavy feeling. It feels like standing underneath the tower that has a bucket that fills with water before tipping on you... but instead the water doesn't stop and you're trapped underneath.

"They don't know, do they?" Lyrika asks, setting the empty jar on the table.

"No," Song coldly warns her, "and don't you dare tell them."

The bitterness in Song's voice feels like an assault on Lyrika's ears and emotions. She swallows the buildup of saliva and turns away from Song. She looks up at the ceiling and blinks rapidly to absorb the tears back into her eyes. She can't cry. She's not the one dying; she's not the one who is sick. She shouldn't be this upset. They've known each other for three days. Well, Song has known Lyrika for three days. Lyrika learned of Song the moment he hit the news and she dived into research that she only let go of after so many of his sad images got to her.

She takes another wavering breath, lowering her head. She blinks a few more times to make sure there are no more tears.

"Is there a cure?" Lyrika asks quietly to avoid her voice cracking.

"Yes," Song answers, "but I'll never have access to it... I've already started to feel the effects... it won't be much longer now," he huffs with a satisfied smile, "they won't be able to do anything. I want to watch them panic, looking for something to cure me. I want to die satisfied that they can't do anything."

"I can't do anything?" Lyrika turns to Song, but his back remains to her.

"No... and I don't want you to," Song quietly tells her, "I've accepted this a long time ago, Lyrika. Don't worry about me." Lyrika sharply inhales. He doesn't want her help. She turns away once more. The tears cloud her eyes and she dares not to blink. She raises her head upward.

"You have already helped me," Song tells her, "you gave me one last chance to feel the ocean water. I haven't felt alive in so long."

Then it clicks. Lyrika lowers her head.

"The ocean," Lyrika states, "that's the cure."

The water in Song's pool splashes around a little, "yes, and they will never allow me to go back to the ocean."

"But I don't understand," Lyrika blinks, and tears race down her cheeks, "why can't the water here keep you alive? Is it not the same?"

"The ocean has magic," Song replies, "you saw how it brought me back to life. The water here is chemically made. Here, there is no magic. Without the ocean magic running through my body, it slowly dies. Just like how the disease suffocates the sea stars... without the true ocean water I'm slowly suffocating too."

Lyrika doesn't move. How could she answer or fix anything?

"Lyrika, I want to watch them lose something they should have never had," Song quietly tells her.

"I understand," she whispers sadly. The conversation ceases with that.

The silence that falls between the two is uncomfortable, almost suffocating like Song described moments ago.