Page 101 of Whispers of the Deep

Mira

Mira didn’t remember much of her healing, only a lot of pain. She woke a few times; she was certain of that. There were times when she remembered soft hands on her cheeks and a melodic voice who told her that she would live. He ordered her to live, because if she didn’t, then he would follow her into the abyss.

By the time she was well enough to sit back up and be aware of everything around her, she was mostly alone. Byte was still there, and the little droid was so excited to see her again. It hadn’t left her side, and instead decided the best spot in the entire dome was right next to her bed.

She’d arrived here essentially dead. But because she had been hooked up to the undine, it had been like chest compressions. The undine had breathed for her, and so her body had been forced to stay alive. Melete had stayed with her for days with that cord connected to her, breathing for an achromo she should have hated.

The moon pool no longer closed. She wasn’t all that certain why, but had a feeling it had to do with the attack on Beta.

She didn’t know much about that. The yellow finned undine, Maketes she had since learned, told her about the attack and that most of the people in her city were still alive and well. She didn’t have any reason to worry too much about them, although he seemed to hesitate while telling her.

Those black eyes looked at her and saw too much. He knew there was something angry bubbling inside of her. That she wanted to see Arges and still hadn’t seen him.

Thus far, she had stopped herself from asking. Maketes had told her that his people had kept him trapped. At least, that was how she thought he meant it. He said that Arges wasn’t coming for her, and she’d thought that was because someone wasn’t letting him return to her side.

The longer it took for him to get here, the longer she wondered if he just didn’t want to see her.

She feared he considered her unworthy. Or maybe he’d gotten what he wanted out of her. Information, sex, and then he thought better of it. Maybe she’d been so bad at having sex with him that he had decided it wasn’t worth it to keep her around. She didn’t know.

All she could do was stay in her dome. Clearly, her own people didn’t want her back. So she healed, waiting until she was well enough to walk, then workout, and then swim. After that, she swam every day.

No one attacked her. None of the undines seemed to care that she existed. Even the ones who visited with fish for her to eat watched her swim with amusement. She was getting stronger, though, and that’s all that mattered. Stronger. Healthier.

The medkit had stitched up her body, and that was the only thing she could focus on right now. Because her heart was shattered.

Maybe she just wasn’t good enough for him. At least not any more than as a pet.

Swimming now, she adjusted her rebreather, so it didn’t pinch her face so badly. Mira had to test the damn thing to make sure it still actually worked. After the last fiasco where it had stopped working, she didn’t really trust it. Not as much, at least.

A clawed hand reached out of her peripheral and grabbed the rebreather. She only had a second to shout, “Hey!”, before the rebreather was pulled from her face. Planting her feet hard against the chest of the undine next to her, she shoved with her feet and pushed off of them. All she had to do was make it back to the dome. She’d been practicing. She was better at holding her breath for long periods of time, and getting better the more she practiced.

A sharp jab at the side of her neck, and suddenly there was air in her lungs. Pushing, inflating, giving her a sense of life.

“Where are you off to?” She’d know that deep voice anywhere. Part of her wanted to melt into him, to weep in relief that he was finally here.

The other part of her wanted to hit him, and that was the part that came out on top. Whirling, she punched her fist to his chest and then ripped the tube out of her neck. “Where have you been?”

He grabbed the end of the tendril, sighing, before attaching it to her neck again. “Feral creature. I’ve been here, but there has been much for me to fix.”

“Fix?” She felt him inflate her lungs again, and the feeling was so strange it was hard for her to even focus. “I don’t know what you’re trying to do here, Arges, but you haven’t come to see me since I’ve been injured.”

“I’ve been here, just not while you were awake.” He lifted a hand again, brushing her hair behind her ear before making that sighing sound again that suggested he was pleased. “I have missed you.”

He didn’t... He didn’t get to say that. She had missed him too, but she’d been sitting here alone. Sad. Dreaming of him coming and telling her that she meant something to him and instead, here he was, being an absolute dick!

“No,” she muttered, turning toward the dome and swimming away from him. Air be damned. “I’m not having this conversation with you.”

He floated above her, barely flicking his tail to keep up with her. “Did you not miss me?”

“While dying? Yeah, a little.” She hated admitting it, but she’d told Arges that she was in love with him. So, of course, she had missed him. She’d be lying if she said she didn’t.

“Then why are you swimming away from me?”

“Because I’m mad at you.”

He swam around her, and their connection made her have to spin with him. The gliding rotation was graceful and calming, but she refused to be calm with him right now. “Why?”

“Because I almost died, Arges!” She sucked in water and choked. Just because she had air didn’t mean being underwater was easy for her. She felt him exhale hard and all the water expelled out of her mouth, as her lungs couldn’t contain all the air. It was uncomfortable and strange and it wasn’t human. None of this was.

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