Original Stories Fan Fiction ❯ To Wish Upon The Sea ❯ Unlikely Savior ( Chapter 5 )

To Wish Upon The Sea

By: Melissa Norvell

Chapter 5: Unlikely Savior

Sorrowful pale blue eyes stared at the newly acquired wound that the naga had recently gained. Everything was silent after their scuffle with her father only moments earlier. The two of them sat in the middle of a large, wooden floor. As moments passed, the girl could only think of what happened. It felt like it was all her fault.

If she hadn't have been so weak.

If she had just stood up to her father.

If Thanatos wasn't discovered.

If she had tried to keep things more secretive.

Tons of ifs but nothing could take back a gunshot wound.

Eyes shining with the pain she felt, the girl decided that only one thing was acceptable- to apologize.

"I'm sorry," a small voice caught the naga's keen ears.

Deep green eyes looked to the ground. "Don't be."

"Huh?" Manami's head snapped up, her eyes a little wide with shock. She didn't think that his retort would seem so…genuine. She thought he'd say something like 'you should be, look what happened because of you' or something similar. This was one of the few times that Manami could tell that Thanatos had emotion of any kind.

"You're away from him and you can see me at any time. That's all that matters," Thanatos gazed back at the girl. His once saddened eyes now seemed steely and cold. "I'll take care of you now."

"Okay," she replied. For some reason, she could not defy his gaze. His eyes were so hypnotic, like those of a serpent. Although they seemed cold, they were full of depth and one could find themselves getting lost within their viridian depths.

A moment of silence passed between them before Thanatos decided to ask a question that had been on his mind for a while. "Manami?"

"Yes?" The girl turned her attention to him.

"You have a father, as little of one as he may have been, but what happened to your mother?" He questioned.

"She's here," the ebony haired girl smiled brightly at the mention of her mother. The subject seemed to cheer her up and cause her to become happier. It made her smile, most importantly and that was something that seemed to be a rare occurrence for Thanatos.

"What?" A bewildered expression crossed his features as he glanced around the room. His eyes darted around to all corners, doorways and hallways and yet he saw nothing. The room was as desolate as could be with no sign of her proclaimed mother anywhere. He was beginning to question the girl's sanity a little. "Kid, are you delusional? There's no one here."

Manami's gaze went to the hardwood floor that the sly naga had been resting on. "We're right above her."

Thanatos was still confused as his gaze befell the wood in a questionable manner. "Your mother is the wood?"

"She's buried here," the answer came simply, as if beneath the floor was a suitable spot for people to be buried.

"What!?" The naga scooted away from his spot with a stunned look on his face. "What kind of screwed up family do you have?" He didn't know how she could have even smiled at that. It was downright creepy. He definitely would not think of her house in the same manner again.

"My mother was killed by a sea creature when she was walking along the beach," Manami's momentary happiness left at the recollection of the last moment of her mother's life.

"Sea creature?" Thanatos wondered what type of creature she meant and if it would have any effect on their relationship.

"Yes, before she died, she said that she was walking along the shore when she saw something that looked like a baby lying on the shore. It looked like it was hurt and bleeding so she picked it up and it transformed into a giant water being who stabbed her in the side. She tried to get away but it bit her and shortly after, she began to feel ill. We think it poisoned her. She almost died once, then seemed like she was recovering. She told us that if she ever died, she wanted to be buried here, where she could be around us and watch over us," the girl explained, "so my father buried her under the floor boards."

"Did your father ever hit your mother? Like he does you?" Thanatos tried to shake the creepy feelings that story left within him and change the subject. He wondered if both parents were abusive to her, or if something happened between the three of them that would cause her father to act in such a way.

The black haired girl was busy stitching up the wound. The bullet had gone through his being, so it didn't need to be pulled out.

"No, he was very nice to me before she died," Manami's mind reflected back on happier times of her life. "After she died about a month later, he was all of a sudden mean to me." She finished up her stitching job. She was quick and efficient. For a moment, the naga had wondered if her experience was from caring for herself after she'd been abused. "I never knew why and I was so upset. It was like he wasn't my father anymore. As if he twisted into some ugly person," she pulled out some white wrappings of sorts and began to wrap his shoulder securely.

"When you came along, I was so happy that someone liked me. I felt like no one loved me and no one cared, like I was on my own. Even if you were a little gruff, I still know that you cared somewhat about me, and even if you don't say it now, I still think that you care about me or you wouldn't have gotten hurt for me."

"Hmpf," Thanatos turned his nose up at the remark, seeming a little offended, "I'm not that soft."

"I don't think caring about someone makes you a pushover," she smiled gently at him. She was beginning to pick up on his character by now and knew all too well that he was trying to hide behind some mean façade. "You're very strong and caring about something makes you stronger," Manami finished wrapping his wound.

"You think so?" The dark haired male looked over his shoulder and looked intrigued.

"Yes, I think it's our love for something that shows our true power when we fight."

"Huh?"

"Your soul shines brightest when you're protecting something you love," she laced her hands over her chest.

"You're too sappy," Thanatos was cold. He didn't really want to hear the girl spout off any more romantic stuff to him. Manami blinked in confusion.

"Go get some water from the sea. We should keep some nearby in case of emergency," Thanatos ordered, knowing that it could come in handy later on.

"Alright." She replied obediently. "Will you be okay until I get back?"

"I got shot," the male replied sarcastically. "What am I going to do?"

The girl sighed. "Bye, Thanatos-sama," she walked towards the door, grabbing a large metal pail on the way out and shutting the door quietly behind her, leaving the naga alone to his thoughts.

Thanatos looked about the room, which was no completely silent. You could hear a pin drop if anyone decided to test the theory. It seemed oddly peaceful in that large room, it was an almost urethral silence that was on the verge of being a little creepy.

'Ugh…' His thoughts protested. 'What a royal pain. She reminds me of Thelios sometimes…Happy, annoying, naive…and yet…' The male flopped down on his back, the sharp pain reminding him of his injuries but he paid it no mind, not even making a face of unease at it. Green eyes stared at a white ceiling as he awaited Manami's return. 'I'll just rest until she comes back.'

The floor creaked beneath him. The naga felt very unnerved by this as a single sweat drop rolled down his head. "Don't remind me, okay?" He spoke to the floor as if it was human, seeming a little peeved. "I already know that I'm lying on a corpse. Manami has an issue, that's for sure. Glad her weird-ass parents are dead."

The floor creaked again, as if it were arguing with him on that fact.

"Oh shut up."

XI.

The winds were calm and the air smelled fresh as the girl walked calmly along the beach. The winds toyed with her black strands playfully as the tides rushed in and out at a gentle pace. The sea sounds calmed her spirit and it felt odd being able to walk along the shore without a time limit.

She felt so at ease since her father left the mortal plain and the only thing that was on her mind at the moment was her task and thoughts of Thanatos and her past.

This at least gave her some time to think to herself. She wondered if Thanatos was doing so as well.

'So many things happened at this place…' She thought as she stopped and turned, pale blue eyes looking out across the sea as images of her mother, Thanatos and her father beating her a few days before flooded her senses, filling her with a mixture of emotion. 'I made friends, lost people I loved and gained hope here. All in this very place. The sea can be many things, and it can do many things as well- give, create, take, destroy. It can make wishes come true and kill in an instant.'

The once abused girl began to wade out into the sea. The water felt gentle, yet cool to the touch as it caressed her bare feet. 'So pretty and mysterious and to think…So long ago, I wanted to drown myself in it because I was so miserable.' She walked deeper and deeper into the waves as she lowered the bucket, scooping a full pail of sea water up. She walked over to a few rocks, which stuck out above the waves and were only not visible when the tides came in. Closing her eyes, she could smell the salt in the air and feel the gentle, cool breezes. Her ears picked up the sounds of far off seagull cries.

"It's peaceful today," she spoke to only herself.

Beneath the water, a dark and long shadow moved beneath her. The shadow was large and seemed to produce the shape of another being as long as a small sea serpent. It slithered past the unsuspecting girl undetected. It stopped a few feet away and the arm of the figure drew back something long and pointed on the end, resembling a spear or sorts. Dark purple eyes narrowed from beneath the water.

'I've got you in my sights…You won't be getting away now. Ready…Go! ' The female form thought as she threw the spear, causing it to shoot through the water like a missile ready to strike its target.

"Huh?" Manami blinked upon seeing a strange form headed towards the surface of the water. Seconds later, the spear shot out at her with amazing speed for something being thrown underwater. Whoever threw it had amazing strength. The girl was in shock and in order to avoid it, has to fall back into the sea with a yell of surprise and fright. A few moments later she surfaced to see that the spear was now in the air high above her head, fear shown in her wide eyes.

What could have attacked her, and why? Was it the same creature that attacked her mother so long ago?

"What was that?" The frightened female asked herself in a breathy tone, both from fear and temporary lack of oxygen.

A few feet away from her a young and muscular female naga shot up from the water, grabbing the spear. Her body did a summersault before she shot back down into the water gracefully. This naga, for the moment that Manami could see her, was beautiful. Her tail was a purplish blue in coloration and shone with the brilliance of an oyster pearl. She wore clothes that resembled a hunter's uniform and her hair was a deep blue, almost black. She had facial marking that looked like black fangs beneath her eyes.

After staring in awe for a few moments and trying to take in what had happened to her, she felt as if she were being stared at and turned to see a deadly steel tip being pointed at her. It was that same naga and she looked intent on killing her.

"Who are you?" A strong, feminine voice asked in a commanding voice.

Manami was scared.

She lost her will to speak and no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't bring herself to answer the question.

All she could do was gasp and stare in fear as her blood ran cold.

To Be Continued…