To Be Proud: Revamped

Chapter 55: Water Island

~Bona~

I didn't know how to feel. First came that reoccurring, life-threatening nightmare that haunted me even in my waking hours. Of course, I wasn't scared of the water itself: I was afraid of being lost within it. Not knowing where to go, being tossed around, drowning almost—it petrified me, chilling my spine. Then, there was the attack. Seeing Thwok and the others disappear in the water below activated something within me, something like a fight-or-flight. Suddenly, I couldn't move. I spiraled back, collapsing against a stack of lone boxes. No matter what I tried to do, I couldn't control the ceaseless shaking and convulsing.

Then, there was the dive. On three, I was pulled forcefully by Thwok's will, and then we were sent falling. I remember grabbing on to him tightly, pulling him close to me as if he, too, was leaving me. The idea of Thwok being gone forever haunted me, even without considering the fact that I already knew his fate. He would leave me forever, and I wasn't ready to accept that. The water wasn't going to take him; I wouldn't let it even if it was the last thing I did.

Soon enough, I felt a light tapping against my cheek bone. There were only a few at a time, but then it got progressively faster. And faster. And even faster. I opened my eyes and was met with a look of pure distress. Realizing what I was doing, I instinctively let go. Thwok was trying to warn me, and I'm glad that he did; if I didn't let go, then he would've been crushed by my hands. I would've lost him way too soon, and I didn't want that on my conscious. Especially in the deep blue, my nemesis.

      "Ona, look at me." I maintained eye contact with the monster in front of me, surprised by the fact that I could still hear him. My focus was solely on his vibrant, violet eyes, which glowed brighter in the water. "Wepeat aftuh me."

      "I...okay." He held my hands, squeezing them gently.

      "Youh're heuh with me."

      "You're here with me."

      "This is noht a dweam."

      "This is not a dream."

      "I'm heuh with you."

      "I'm here with you."

      "This is noht a dweam."

      "This is not a dream." Thwok smiled, swimming up closer to me.

      "I lohve you." I took a breath, then smiled back.

      "I love you, too." He threw his arms around my shoulders, and I gently wrapped mine around his back to pull him closer. I got lost in his eyes, the deep purple vortexes that I adored sucking me in, but soon enough I was pulled back out by another voice.

      "There you two are!" I heard Kayna exclaim as she swam closer to us. Thwok and I pulled away from each other, and I could sense some sort of shameful feeling course through my body.

      "Hey, Kay," Thwok replied. "Whehre's Puhtite?"

      "Right here." She moved to the side just as Petite rushed through, finding her way into my rib cage.

      "Alright, what happens now?" I asked as I helped Petite settle in.

      "Now, we just wait for Hydro."

      "Is thaht them now?" Thwok inquired while pointing downwards. We all glanced down at the abyss below us, and I shivered as an enormous shadow was making its way up towards us.

      "Yes! Good eye!"

The large shadow underneath us swam to our side, rising up from the eternal darkness. A teal glow resonated from its chest, which was barred shut with a metal grate. Rust and other marine debris covered the monster's dull blue exterior, but they didn't seem bothered by it at all. They held us in the palms of their hands, their fingers and the webbing in between them acting as a barrier so that we wouldn't fall off. As they examined the four of us using three of their scopes, I couldn't help but to notice the light green haze that covered their lenses.