To Be Proud: Revamped

Chapter 62: In Deep Waters

~Bona~

Having a crack in the bone might've hurt a lot, but nothing matched the pain of knowing that someone you loved could be in potential danger. As I watched Thwok exit the hotel, planning to head to the castle alone, I internally wept and reached out towards him. I didn't want him to get hurt regardless of where he was going, so the fact that I couldn't come with him stung like a barbed thorn. The doors to the hotel closed shut behind him, but I was the one who felt shut out. The pain was unbearable, something that I had a hard time tolerating.

      "Hey, are you okay, Big B?" Petite asked as she climbed on to my shoulder. "You look...sad." I glanced down at the ground, thinking about how to answer her. I wanted to be sweet, but I didn't have the strength to sugarcoat my answer.

      "No," I uttered, "I'm not okay." I felt her leap off of my shoulder, rushing down to the ground to meet my solemn eyes.

      "It'll be okay, Big B. Thwok will be back before you know it!"

      "Petite..." I sighed. "Petite, what if someone you loved left, and you knew that they were in danger, but you can't do anything?"

      "What is 'love?'" I blinked, baffled, then rephrased.

      "Okay, what if I went away, you knowing that I would be in danger, but you can't do anything?"

      "Oh, easy! I'd knock out the danger to keep you safe! They wouldn't know what hit 'em." Petite moved her arms in a flowing motion, seeming as if she was wound up for attack. I shook my head.

      "Petite, you can't do anything."

      "Well, you have to be doing something. Standing walking, breathing, thinking—those are all things!" I went to refute, then stopped. She was right, 100% right, which completely baffled me. I shook my head once more.

      "Bu-wh-I—" Petite laughed.

      "Oh come on, Big B! It's almost dawn! Let's see if Kay's up!" She jumped around and left the hotel, leaving me with no choice but to follow.

Despite the sun slowly peeking over the water, there wasn't much activity on the surface of Water Island. The flora still shone brightly, accompanied by the small groups of fish that decided to make the flora their home. As I watched the fish happily swim around in their peaceful abode, I thought about Wublin Island and how it became a living nightmare. They're suffering in his hands, I thought to myself, and here I am walking along the sea floor watching the fish. I felt pathetic, selfish, and there was nothing I could do. I couldn't do anything, it seemed.

My thoughts were interrupted by Petite, as per usual. She swam up to me, holding a small black pebble in her hands and singing "I found something, I found something!" I took the rock into my claws, carefully examining it as I came to a halt. It was as black as night and in the shape of a droplet, perfectly curved and smoothed as if it was artificially made. There was something about the stone that made me clutch it in my hand, keeping the unknown rock by my core, but I could not pin why or what.

Looking down at the ground, my eyes caught on to more strange black stones. Picking another one up, I saw that they were near identical to each other. Glancing over at Petite, we decided to follow the long path towards the back of the castle. I expected something to jump out and try to attack us, but when I first heard noises I stopped. Listening carefully, Petite and I could make out the sound of someone sobbing, crying their eyes out even. After a moment's hesitation, I decided to peek around the bend to see who was in distress.

I froze. It was Kayna creating the wretched sounds, covering her face as she did so. The top of her head and the ground around her were coated with the same black rock that the trail was formed from, and once I saw the lava seep through her hands and hardened into a black stone I realized that the trail we had been following was made up of Kayna's tears. Glancing at Petite, I asked her to head into the castle and take a look around. Once she was gone and out of sight, I went over and positioned myself next to Kayna.