Weakness

Chapter 1: Something is off.

Something felt off..
This was the nagging feeling creeping up Iro's back when he went to sleep last night, even though his day wasn't one out of the ordinary something was ticking, even going as far making him shiver under his cover.
He laid there pondering until sleep caught up to him.

This morning when he woke up the feeling hadn't budged, so he simply shook it off. He got downstairs expecting Elisa and Eyes to have their usual "lovey dovey breakfast" as Iro calls it but surprisingly, only Elisa was there. She was eating shrimps and some buttery toast looking like she barely slept.
Iro stood in the doorway of the kitchen with the feeling creeping itself back to his head, he looked at where Eyes would usually be then back at Elisa.

-"Hello!" Iro said cheerfully, not wanting to let himself feel down.
The mermaid looked up, keeping her slumped posture;
-"Oh..Hello Iro." She smiled but something felt off.
Usually she would ask him if he slept well and what cup is he going to use this time, instead she looked back down at her toasts.
The human weirdly didn't feel hungry before, but now he felt his stomach turning.
-"What is happening?" He said out loud, surprising himself with the rawness of his voice.
-"I don't know, I woke up this morning feeling strange and Eyes wasn't there." Elisa answered not lifting her eyes to look at the young man, her ears were down and she seemed to have lost her appetite.

Iro was confused;
-"oh Maybe they are in the tower, it's not like it's the first time they pulled an all-nighter like that." Iro puffed, half smiling.
Elisa straighten herself;
-"But we went to sleep together last night and I went looking in the tower...everywhere, even in the garden...and nothing." She whispered the last bit. She then got up, abandoning her breakfast.
-"I thought maybe you two went on an adventure or something like that."

Okay that's definitely strange, if Eyes ever leaves like that they ALWAYS leave a note. The shivers came back, Iro quickly went under his yellow shirt to retrieve the necklace Eyes gave him, upon seeing his movements Elisa did the same with hers.

Nothing.

Without a word and a pinched eyebrow, the green haired lady walked to the living-room and sat on the loveseat.
Iro approached her and sat on the couch in front of her, she had a distraught look stuck on her face, her hands holding her head. Iro knew he may have that same expression on his.
He shook his head, only making him feel a slight headache, he ignored it.
-"Maybe they went out to get us a..gift?" He tried to remain hopeful and find answers but it didn't feel right.

What is happening?

-"I don't know." Whispered Elisa into her hands, "Now that I think about it, Eyes seemed stressed yesterday but you know them; it's hard to say what is truly going on."

Iro got up suddenly;
-"Well that's enough waiting around, let's go to the tower. Maybe we'll find something there." He exclaimed. He refused to feel weak against some stupid worry.
Elisa nodded her head, following him as they ran up the stairs.

They arrived in front of the door, Elisa opened it and entered quickly to close the blinds for Iro.
Iro then turned on the lights.

The tower is what brought him to buy the house years ago, he wasn't planning to settle down long at the time but when he saw the house, its beautiful garden, its tower that gave it a witchy vibe and most importantly how close it is to the biggest forest in the region, how could he pass upon an opportunity like this?
Now the tower is Eyes' favorite place and Iro is happy about that.
The walls are littered with bookshelves that contain so much knowledge all in many languages, the desk is surprisingly tidy, usually it's covered in maps,drawings and many coffee cups; Eyes must've cleaned it not long ago. The tables to the far right on the other hand were messier than normal; ingredients for potions, crystals and stones, books..so many books piled on top of each other, empty potion bottles, some filled, one broken on the floor. The element that caught Iro's eye was the potion brewing, it's a very flashy orange, very pretty but that's his colorful mind speaking.
He looked to the left where all the potted plants are but didn't see popi on its usual pillow.