Departed

Chapter 18: Poison

Kai's POV

     "I hate getting wet." My gravelly voice echoed in the dark as I pulled myself out of the water. Nya emerged a second after me, clutching the Dragon Blade. I snapped my fingers, letting a burst of flame appear to light up the dismal cave. Nya didn't say anything, she simply sat at the edge of the water and panted. I heard the Geoatomic Rock Monsters growling from the cavern below us.

     The cave was steamy with the heat coming from the lava. I shuddered as the mist threatened to diminish my flame. When I surveyed the familiar surroundings, I caught sight of the bags under Nya's eyes. "You okay, sis?"

     Nya took a deep breath and nodded. She pulled herself to her feet while tucking the Dragon Blade into its sheath on her back. "Feels like old times, huh?"

     "Yeah," I agreed, watching her with narrow eyes. Nya smoothed her clumpy wet hair out of her face as she trekked towards the main cavern. I frowned as she passed me, reluctantly following my obviously tired sister.

    We reached the cliff that jutted out above the volcano's bottom. The Geoatomic Monsters' roaring was louder. I didn't think much of it, who knows why they did what they did.

     In the faint light of the cavern, I saw my sister's face more clearly. Her hair looked greasy, her face was pale, and the bags under her eyes had taken on a purplish hue. She surveyed the rocky slide in front of us and started to ready her water.

     "You have two choices," I said, stopping her. "You can tell me why you're disheveled, or I can guess until you tell me."

     "I'm not..." Nya ran a hand through her soaking wet hair again and sighed. "Okay. I didn't get a lot of sleep last night."

     "And?"

     She frowned. "And I haven't taken a proper shower in a couple of days."

     "And?"

     She was scowling at me now. "What else do you need to know?"

     "I need a reason not to chew out Jay for keeping you up so late."

     "We're literally married!" Nya exclaimed, her shriek echoing into the caverns. "It's not wrong for us to talk about things for hours on end."

     "What kind of things?"

     "Why do you need to know?"

     "Why are you acting so suspicious?" I put a hand on my hip.

     She looked downright malevolent, before finally whining, "You're going to hate me for this."

     "Nya—"

     "He thinks that what Harumi and Morro have been saying is true." She blurted out, burying her hands in her face. "I told him it was a stupid theory, but then he gave me those puppy dog eyes, and I may have allowed myself to listen to his points."

     "Jay thinks they're innocent?" I tore a hand through my immaculate hair, only to find it was still a soaking wet mess.

      "I told him it was stupid!" Nya waved her hands around. The Geoatomic Monsters' clamor was louder than ever, but both of us were ignoring it. "But then..." She paused, meeting my eyes. "People don't just come back from the dead, Kai. I watched Harumi fall. She couldn't have survived that. Both of us saw Morro die. How is it possible that both of them could be in front of us without something larger at play? They've had multiple opportunities to try something evil, but they've never taken them. Why?"

     "Harumi is acting, and she's brought Morro into her little gang. They're only being all innocent now because they're trying to get into our little circle." I crossed my arms. "Look, I'll try to get you some time off so you can nap later."