How Did We Get Into This Mess - KOTLC Oneshots

A Burden Shared

("I'm going under and this time I feel there's no one to save me.")

Watching water had always been calming for Sophie. Whether it was the public pool back in San Diego or the reliable dark waves of inktide islands. The crash and pull of the Shores of Solace grounded her, a sigh of salty air releasing onto the beach. Her toes curled and uncurled with the tides.

How long had she been here, the wind tangling her hair? In, out, inhale, exhale. Her tunic was a whisper on her skin, glimmering transparent material over a bandage style swimsuit.

Sophie pulled the covering up over her head, knotted blonde locks pushed back. Foam pounded the sand, leaving shells behind while taking its pick of the old ones.

Keefe walked up from his father's house, usually messy hair even more tousled by the outdoors. He sat down in the water, waves lapping at his chest.

"So you heard it too," Sophie rang out, more a statement than a question.

"Yeah."

It seemed they had both come for the repetitive noise to drown out the voices who plagued them.

"It was Dex. For me," Sophie informed him, gazing out towards the horizon, focusing on the line where the sky kissed the sea.

"Biana. When she was eight," Keefe spat bitterly.

When the Neverseen messed with their emotional centers, it simulated traumatic events, or memories. The images themselves were faint, but the voices carved deep, crying out from the chasm.

"Follow me," Keefe told her, standing up and wading deeper. Their hans tightened together, the grip a lifeline. They slowed as the water reached her biceps, stopping when it traced her collarbone.

"On three, we're going to dunk, and scream until we can't take it," Keefe said, eyes meeting hers. Calm masked the tortured boy behind them, a broken soul matching hers. Heartbreak refracting in the reflection of each person.

"One, two-" Sophie pushed her head under so he couldn't see her cry as they screamed for everyone they'd lost, who had been ripped away. Keefe's arms wrapped around her as his tears joined the ocean, Sophie keening. Bent over with sorrow, she screamed long past her voice was hoarse.

It felt as if they'd been under for hours, both throwing their head up, pain interwoven as they suffocated with grief. Who could tell if the salty streams had been wept or a result of the water?

The burden had not been lifted - but instead was lessened, and shared.

(This is how I decided to complete daviddaly000 's request about echoes! The Neverseen created a version of them leaning on PTSD and survivors guilt, which can impact their mental health more than their bodies.)