Omori Drabbles

Icarus

Trigger Warning: Character Death, Drowning, Panic Attack

"insignificantly off the coast
there was
a splash quite unnoticed
this was Icarus drowning"

Landscape With The Fall Of Icarus
-William Carlos William

When the boy had decided to fall in love with the sun, there was no crackle of lightning: there wasn't an emotional ocean that rose to swallow the stars, there wasn't an explosion of passion from the earth's crust, no whirlwind to sweep each other off their feet.

It just had happened

so suddenly and so quickly that Sunny didn't find himself falling until he was drowning.

Sunny was unable to pull away from the Sun's bright glare, he never wanted to hide from its warmth. He sought out to reach into the sky to hold the star close, and bask in the heat as if no one else on earth needed it. Even when the Sun stuck still amongst purple skies, Sunny had found himself craving more. The Sun must shine for others, but the boy had wanted nothing more than to be the center of the star's universe.

When the moon would come with a fluorescent glow, the boy would stare into the nothingness- silently pleading, begging, for the Sun to come back and sweep him off his feet. He had never thought his addiction to drive him crazy the moment they parted, but it followed him into his dreams. The blank space of infinite absence was tormented by a boy waiting for the sun to shine through the cracks of a door. However his prayers would soon be answered and he could bask in the rays once again.

But a violent storm came one night, and shrouded the sun in veiled clouds. The warmth dissipated so abruptly Sunny swear he hallucinated the sweet smile of his best friend. The only memories were his determined friends and a growing ache in a boy's heart.

But after jumping into an empty cavern, his friends had fallen strangely quiet. Sunny's heart began to spin wildly out of control as they all stared at a green headed boy, toeing the line between ground and nothingness.

He was dressed in a simple short sleeved shirt tucked into long black pants, and Sunny briefly wondered when he had time to find a different change of clothes after he disappeared.

Basil never turned to look back at them, and after slipping his shoes off waded into what Sunny now recognized as water.

Words bubbled in Sunny's throat, and he just barely managed to contain a raspy, "Basil?"

The green head of hair turned slowly towards him, and Sunny's heart was beating so loud he swore it echoed through the entire cave. He could just feel his Sun's gaze across the rippled waters. It filled the boy's bones with a sense of belonging and hope, just the tiniest glance and he'd felt more alive than ever before.

A quiet voice began drifting around Sunny's thoughts. Basil, his sun and star, was calling out to him. The soft tones of his voice were like twinkling wood chimes that urged the boy to come closer to the sun. To bring the mortal near with promises of a universe where only Sunny could bask in the glow Basil radiated. Just imagining the warmth that used to shine threw out any rational thought the boy had left. He too, slipped off his shoes and trekked through the water after Basil.

The sun and moon had always chased each other, fighting to see ones face as the universe swirled around their love. And the closer Sunny got to Basil, the distance between the two only seemed become more unmanageable. His friend always drifted further and further away, and the warmth of his smile flickered in the watery abyss. Basil's voice still called out to Sunny, urging him to rescue him from the ocean trenches.

Basil opened his mouth to speak again, but was pulled into the depths before a single syllable was formed. The voice in his head never wavered, urging him to follow the sun underneath the water's surface. Sunny heard no voices more calling from the forgotten shore, and inhaled a deep breath of air before following.

The abyss had enveloped the boy swiftly, leaving a freezing imprint on his skin. The water swelled around his ears and his hair floated freely around in the currents. He was strangely calm though, following the shady promise of security through the murky waters.

Soon though, his lungs began to wail, trying to fight the fog that surrounded Basil's voice. Sunny couldn't see him anymore, as though he was never even there, but the burning made his presence adamantly clear. The heat that scalded his skin was blistering, Basil's brightness had never wounded him. His love had never hurt like his before, it was in some sense euphoric though. The way his arms tingled to embrace the sun again and the butterflies that would come alive whenever Basil spoke would dance once more. The whispers of promise had completely brainwashed Sunny and the scalding heat had become welcoming in the freezing waters.

And then, all at once, the heat snuffed out. There wasn't the hush of Basil's voice, and Sunny began to thrash around in the water to find him. He spun wildly and the currents began to pick up. He couldn't recognize what was up or down, left or right. It was the exact opposite of white space. There was pure nothing, no hum of distant noise or the soft purring of Mewo. It was only Sunny now, and he was already out of air.

Full out panic had settled in, a rock slept in his gut and invisible weights chained him to the emptiness. His lungs were screaming for air louder than any phone ringing and he opened his mouth to call for Basil. The water quickly filled his starved lungs and he involuntarily started to cough to get rid of them. His limp arms started to claw at his own shirt, crying out for something, anything. There were no Kel or Hero to save him. Aubrey wasn't there to fuss around him, there was no dear sister to save her little brother. He had ran towards the sun and had fallen so helplessly. His heart ached for the times before the purple skies. When it was just the moon and the sun, forever together in a state of happiness and bliss.

But his happiness was never written in the stars. It was never a grand scheme in the universe and he would die in his own mind, drowning in the damp cold after realizing he'd recklessly fallen in love with the sun.

It was if he had severed from his body entirely at this point. He didn't bother to twitch his fingertips, hypothermia had settled in and all of his nerves were burnt from the freeze. The abyss had swallowed him and hidden the body in a trench. There was no pain anymore, just nothing. But through his dying vision he could see Basil, a few feet away clothes as pristine as the day he disappeared. His green hair drifting perfectly around his face, eyes closed in a peaceful sleep.

And suddenly dying didn't seem too bad; if Sunny had to suffocate to feel the warmth of their soul's reuniting again, then it was just another step while drowning in love.