Oceanspray

Chapter Four

A/N: This chapter is dedicated to SneezingTurtle because I began reading her works shortly after PassionInFlames. c:

Chapter song: Remember When (Disappear) by Issues.

Enjoy~

Chapter Four

Neros

They haven’t spoken to me for a week. The only one who would hold a decent conversation with me was Astos. Chara was mad. My mother was furious. My father was indifferent. The rest were simply afraid.

I held my breath before going to out hunt. I exhaled deeply as I pushed myself away from the kelp forest we lived in. I hunted for smaller fish like younger albacore or maybe some yellowtail. I didn’t dare go for anything larger. It would probably bring about death in the weakened state that I was.

After my kills, I simply floated in the space of water and ate. The blood rushed into my mouth, soothing the ache in my throat. The rest of it clouded around me as I devoured the rest of the carcass. It did little to make me feel better though.

I swam back with a heavy heart and bumped into Chara on the way in. She instantly narrowed her eyes at me in an accusatory way that made my blood boil.

“Where have you been?”

“Out,” I responded curtly. Her eyes narrowed even further. The already dark green of her eyes darkened even further.

“You know that Mother doesn’t approve of you leaving without telling one of us first.”

“Mother could not care less if my soul slipped into the Underworld.”

“She does care and you know it!” my sister barked. Her eyes glowed with unshed tears. I knew my statement upset her, but she was upsetting me too. “Why do you insist on being so reckless and so disobedient?”

I began to glower back at her. “It’s not reckless if I know what I’m doing. It’s not disobedient if I’m not given orders.”

She was seething with fury now, but I couldn’t find it in me to care. She used to be the one who cared after me when Mother and Father didn’t have the time or desire to. Now suddenly she was a replica of Mother. I hated it. I didn’t hate her, but I hated what she became.

“I don’t know where this attitude came from, but I want it gone.”

“Wants aren’t always given, sister.”

“I swear to whatever god is listening to me, Neros,” she hissed, “I will slap you so hard that you’ll be in the Atlantic before you can even blink.”

“A little trip to the Marianas Trench couldn’t hurt anyone.”

She growled menacingly low in her throat, raising her hand. I stared coolly at her, daring her to strike me. I knew of the natural motherly instinct in her. She wouldn’t dare hit someone, let alone her youngest brother. She would rather strike herself than give in to her anger.

True to my thoughts, she simply slammed her hand down to her side before storming off. I scowled in annoyance. I swam off in the opposite direction, not ready to go back home again. Astos was probably worried, but I couldn’t find it in me to care about that. Astos was one person. For me, the cons outweighed the pros.

I swam back out to the small island cove that I had discovered last week. It was quiet on my way though. No matter how bright the ocean was at the high point of the day, I couldn’t help but cradle my heavy heart closer to my chest. Sometimes, it felt like it was difficult to breathe with such an emotional burden on my shoulders. Sometimes, I would think that I was getting a headache—something I heard rumors of—but then I reminded myself how ridiculous I was being.