The clock hits zero as they wait, not even moving to breathe. Nothing happens, and they all release their breath at once and inhale. Kysanden walks around, cautiously at first, and then at a normal speed. Rebexi grins broadly, almost clapping in delight.
"It worked!"
Jīvitaya grins back before retracting the levik's anchor. She moves closer to the railing of the deck and returns to watching the fjiene in the distance until her tablet beeps once again, alerting them that the Saieat is ending. Kysanden speaks, but Jīvitals is too engrossed in watching the jumping fjiene to hear him. After a moment, he taps on her shoulder, causing her to crane her head back to look at him.
"What is it?"
"We should do your treatment before we head back to shore."
Jīvitaya sighs. "Very well."
He directs her back down to the stern of the boat, where there is a small gate set into the center of the railing. He opens it and steps through, emerging onto a tiny staircase that leads to a platform a foot below the surface of the water. Jīvitaya slowly directs the levik down the steps until it reaches the water. She eased off of the seat and into the water, relishing its coolness against her skin, which she hadn't even realized had been burning with the effects of the venom. Once she is fully in the water, she pushes off the steps slowly, trying to avoid the burning pain of the venom coursing through her arms with the movement. She sits on the edge of the platform, her legs dangling off the edge. The water is up to her shoulders, still rippling gently in the breeze. She is slightly surprised by the lack of waves or swells, it's more like an enclosed lake with smooth water than a sea.
The saltwater almost seems to leach away the pain as the flow of the water around her makes it feel like it is ebbing away with the water that laps against her skin before receding. She feels slight reverberations in the water around her, as if something large was heading either toward or past her. She instinctually tenses her body, and almost cries out as the pain flares up. The water surges upward a couple of meters in front of her as several sleek orange figures leap out of the water. She relaxes with a shudder of pain, almost laughing. It was the fjiene! One of them brushes against her, it's slippery skin pressing gently against her.
She stretches out her hand and strokes it lightly, marveling at the texture of the fjiene's skin. An instant later, they are all pressed against her, as if they are begging for the same treatment. She laughs and obliged them, running her hand along as many slippery backs as she can reach. The door on the deck behind her opens, and Rebexi gasps. The Fjiene bolt at the sound, shooting back into the waves and into the distance. Jīvitaya frowns slightly, sad to see them go. She sits in the cool waters for another minute, basking in the sunlight, before she slowly inches back to the levik. She slowly raises herself onto it and backs the levik up the steps to the deck. She turns the levik around to see Rebexi staring at her.
"Rebexi? What's wrong?"
She opens her mouth, but no sounds come out. She tries again. "The fjiene. They greeted you. They played with you."
"What's wrong with that, Rebexi?"
"There isn't anything wrong with it, but they never do that. Never. At most, they'll come up and chirp at someone to greet them. They never touch a person and they never, ever let someone touch them." Her last few words almost become breathy with awe.
Jīvitaya is speechless, but she manages a single word. "Oh."
Then there is a splash from the platform, and Jīvitaya looks over the railing. One of the fjiene has returned and it chirps happily at her. She looks closer, to see something held in its beak. Before she can discern what the object is, the fjiene drops it onto the platform and darts back off into the distance. Jīvitaya directs the levik back down the steps and bends over her knees, stretching out her arm towards the object. Her fingers graze it and she strains some more, finally grasping it in her palm and lifting it from the sea.
It is a palm-sized, flame-colored stone, with white and turquoise lines webbing across it. As she holds it, her palm tingles, and the effects spread up her body, but they end a second later. She stares out at the sea for a moment longer, watching the setting sun and straining to find any sign of the fjiene in the water. Finally, when the sun is just barely touching the horizon, staining the sky a deep purple, Jīvitaya turns the levik to ascend the steps once more. When she reaches the top, she closes the gate behind her. Rebexi touches her shoulder lightly, and Jīvitaya looks at her quizzically. Does Rebexi need something?
"What did they give you, Jīvitaya?"
Jīvitaya opens her hand wordlessly, and Rebexi sucks in a breath.
"Rebexi? What is it?"
Rebexi responds shakily, her voice almost breathless. "It's a healing stone."
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How do you guys like this chapter? Why did the fjiene interact with Jīvitaya like they did? What do you think about the healing stone? Tell me your thoughts!
Happy reading and I'll see you next chapter!
~Goddess of Fate, signing out
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Stars Of Memory
Science FictionJīvitaya Rai Naji is just an average human girl. Orphaned, but nothing stranger than that. She was one of the few witnesses to the first alien invasion on Earth. One day, many years later, she catches sight of one of them following her. She wonders...
