Eyes | Amphibia

Chapter 14

⭐️⭐️⭐️

The next day

...

Currently, Marcy was sitting on her bed, contemplating her future. Tomorrow would be a dreadful day. Tomorrow, everything would change for the worse. Tomorrow would be filled with nothing but anguish, pain, and sorrow. Tomorrow would be absolutely detestable. If only there was a way to turn back time, a way to make everything right again.

Marcy had to pretend to be excited for her Mom. Her birthday was coming up soon, and her best friends were coming tomorrow to visit— she was expecting her to be excited, so that's the role she attempted to play for her.
Her father, on the other hand, was another story. He was always at work lately, so therefore, he had very limited knowledge of what was going on in Marcy's life— he really only knew whatever Mrs. Wu would tell him. This was clearly demonstrated to Marcy that day, when her father was able to get off work early and came to speak to her.

He entered her room with an awkward smile across his lips and a small envelope in his grasp. Marcy gave him a glance of acknowledgment as he approached her bed in an almost cautious manner. "Marcy?" He asked after clearing his throat. "Can I talk to you?"
"Sure," Marcy muttered in response, scooting over on her bed so that her dad could take a seat beside her. "What's up, Dad?"
"I heard your friends back from LA are coming to visit on your birthday," Mr. Wu said with a small smile. "Are you excited?"
With slightly enlarged eyes, Marcy looked at her father as if perplexed by his words. "Since when do you care about me?" She asked monotonously, furrowing her brows.
Mr. Wu's eyes widened for a moment, and then his eyebrows curved upward apologetically as a frown pulled the corners of his lips downward. "Marcy... I do care about you. You know that."
"Really? Do you?" Marcy scoffed, her voice still monotonous. "Doesn't seem like it. You're always at work nowadays, and you barely even know what's going on with me anymore. Anne and Sasha are coming tomorrow, and they're spending the week here for my birthday. But you didn't even know that, did you?"
"Marcy, I..." Mr. Wu seemed to be at a loss for words. "You know what I meant. I knew that."
"Did you, though? You barely talk to me anymore." Marcy retaliated.
"You barely talk to us anymore either, Marcy!" Mr. Wu suddenly raised his voice, which caused Marcy to flinch. Noticing this, Mr. Wu quickly settled down and apologized. "Sorry. But I don't think it's fair for you to say that when you do the exact same thing. Ever since we got home, it's been a complete guessing game with you, Marcy— We're worried about you, but we don't know how to help. You don't let us help."
"Are you kidding me?!" Marcy unexpectedly seethed, which caused Mr. Wu to flinch this time. "All of this was your fault!" Marcy knew that wasn't entirely true, but she couldn't take back the words once they had left her mouth. "I've let you guys take me to countless doctors just to be left with no results time and time again, all while knowing that there's no way to fix what I'm going through and that every way you try to help me would be pointless! I've let you guys help me— you guys just can't seem to realize that there is no way to help me!"
Mr. Wu sat there with wide eyes, as if unable to believe what he was hearing. "What... did you just say?" He frowned. "Marcy, I... I don't even know what to say, I—"
"Don't say anything, Dad. Just stop." Marcy sighed, averting her eyes from her father. The two sat in silence for a few seconds before suddenly, a sharp pain shot through Marcy's brain, immediately pulling her out of the pool of numbness she was floating in before.
The teen quickly turned herself away from her father and tightly gripped her hair with both hands, her teeth tightly clenched. It's been awhile since The Core contacted her this way, but she knew how it went, and she knew she couldn't let her dad see the eyes.
"Marcy?" Mr. Wu frantically asked. "What's going on? Are you okay?"
"I-I'm fine," Marcy hissed through clenched jaws. "Just get out of here, Dad. Please."
"Marcy—"
"Please, Dad."
"Okay, okay." Mr. Wu finally took the hint and stood up from the bed. "I'm sorry for being so distant with you, Marcy— but if you ever need anything, I promise I'm here for you. So is your mother. We just want to help you." He placed the envelope he was holding down on the bed beside Marcy. "A little early birthday present; For you and your friends to have fun when they come visit." He then left the room.

Before Marcy even got the chance to reach for the envelope, the eyes appeared and with them came a voice— a voice that Marcy could actually understand!
"That's it, you're too unstable without our guidance," The Core growled. It's voice was loud, sharp, and stern. "Seems like we'll have to step in earlier than expected once the plan is in motion. It's a shame, really; We thought you'd be able to handle this simple task. Guess not."
"Wait, no! Please—" Marcy pleaded, but before she could argue, the eyes and the voice had already disappeared. Sure, she could just go into the mindscape and talk to The Core, but she really didn't have the energy for another fruitless argument that would get her nowhere right now.
With tears in their eyes, Marcy picked up the envelope their father had left for them and slowly opened it. Inside, she found a gift card for the mall, with lots of money on it that could go towards movies, restaurants, and all her and her friends' favorite stores.
That was enough to get her tears flowing. She held the gift card close as she sobbed; The mall was always one of the trio's favorite places to hang out, and this would be the perfect way for them all to catch up and have fun with each other. But Marcy would never get to use it. She would never get to have that fun day with her friends, because all the future had in store for her and her friends was darkness and pain. And there was no escaping it.

After wiping her tears, Marcy placed the gift card down and rolled over to grab the Ultra Stone in her bedside drawer. She looked down at it through bleary eyes, holding it in her shaky hands. "The reward for this better be good, Aldrich." She muttered to herself as she looked down at the stone. Holding it was like having hands covered in blood; the guilt was suffocating, but at the same time, so strong that you can barely feel anything at all.

...

Meanwhile, Anne and Sasha were at Anne's place packing up all of their stuff for the trip and putting together Marcy's birthday present. The Boonchuys were going to accompany them on their trip, because obviously they couldn't go across the country alone; but Anne's parents agreed to give the girls their space and let them catch up and have fun during their time together.
"Ahh, I'm so excited I can barely keep myself together!" Anne exclaimed with a wide grin as she finished stuffing her suitcase.
"Me too!" Sasha smiled in response, slipping a sealed green envelope into the gift bag they'd prepared for Marcy. "This is going to be the best week ever."

⭐️⭐️⭐️