Tormented Heart

With their borrowed ship, they sailed the east and looked for Cyber Refuge: a city rumored to sleep beneath the depths.

Chiaki held a spying glass, observing the ocean ahead of them, but not much seemed to have been happening. "Ten days, and we have yet to find a trace." She answered, jumping down the stairs.

Timothy had an open book, drawing a line with his eyes to read every detail, making sure to miss none. "Guys... I haven't-!" Ayuka stepped in front of Chiaki, pressing her finger on her lips, hinting at her to be quiet.

She secretly pointed her thumb past her shoulder and allowed Chiaki's eye to trace Timothy's actions. "He's reading a book..." She whispered, surprising Chiaki, "I don't believe my eyes..." Added Chiaki with an unexpected look.

For a few seconds, Timothy continued reading, but out of nowhere became irritated and frustrated. "I can't do this! It's boring!" As he swung his arms overhead, the book flew and fell on the wooden deck. "There's nothing I can see in this stupid book that could help us find Cyber Refuge!"

He angrily crossed his arms, growing impatient and lost his nerves, making him tap the floor with his toes.

As they saw him stop reading, they sighed and became disappointed, "How many pages did you read?" Ayuka questioned with an unimpressed glance, sweat trickling down her face. "Three pages..."

Everyone became paralyzed, stunned, and had no comment, "Out of how many?" Aurora asked away, looking from the side into his lifeless expression, "Three hundred and thirty-five...." In an instant, Cassidy and Ayuka yelled at him, "No wonder why you didn't find anything!"

He became as still as a tree, blinking in confusion. He threw a side-long glance at his sisters and his friends, grunting with his voice, finally shutting them in irritation. "Well, the book wasn't that interesting, to begin with." He argued, complaining, and commenting about the first few pages.

Aurora walked toward the book on the floor and looked inside. The page landed on had a picture of a typhoon and a ship getting sucked into it.

"It was formed in the ocean's middle, spinning and swirling life to the ocean's depths. At night, it cycles, but during the day, it is quiet. You will be guided to a new life by the living vortex, but it is only accessible at the year's end. Locate the pedestal, then offer "divine" blood. It won't open till then for you to learn its secret."

Aurora read out loud.

Timothy quickly peeked over her shoulder, leaning his jaw onto it. He spun his arm around her back and pointed at the picture, "That sounds like something out of a horror film." Aurora moved her eyes to look into his face, "I... *cough* don't think... Sorry..." She became embarrassed and coughed away from Timothy after covering her nose.

She could feel a bit of blood running from her nose, "I... I gotta do something." She dropped the book, making Timothy dance around to catch it in his hands, and then watched her sprint inside to the bathroom.

Cassidy, Trinity, and Chiaki looked at her bewildered and believed her reaction wasn't normal. "It's happening again..." Timothy whispered and looked at Trinity. "Could you look into it more?"

She glimpsed at him in puzzled thoughts and accepted the book into her hands. "Tim... Is Aurora alright? She's been coughing a lot, and I even saw her hold her heart as if she was in pain." Trinity asked, exchanging eyes with him.

He took a deep breath, "I'm sure she's just exhausted. I'll go check on her if you don't mind." He walked inside, following Aurora into the bathroom, where she vomited and coughed blood. "Aurora..." She drank water from the pipe, but it didn't help her much. "I'm fine, Tim... This is a weekly routine..." She explained, sitting on the sink to regain some breath.

"I'll be fine... I know I'll be." She explained, but Timothy could see her becoming fainter. He observed her and saw her holding her chest: that she struggled to breathe.

"Aurora, please stop acting like that. I know you're not okay, and I know; you're on a time limit, but don't push yourself and go dying on me before we get the cure. I don't wish to lose a friend I promised to help." Aurora covered her mouth, coughing in silence. "I'm fine. I can handle it..."

But the moment she got ready to make the next move, her vision slowly dropped to the floor, and without knowing what happened, she suddenly felt her body brushed against Timothy's clothes.

She lost her balance and fell but got caught by Timothy before she'd hurt herself on the floor. She was conscious but unstable and weak to stand without somebody supporting her weight.

"Damn it, Aurora. Will you listen to me? You can't even stand properly." He ducked beneath her and leaned her weight onto his shoulders, helping her walk into the next room. "But... I'm..." She couldn't finish her sentence and felt her body freezing, "C-Cold..." Timothy hurried on into the sleeping room, others spotting them.

"W-Whoa... Tim. What's wrong with Aurora? She doesn't look good at all." Cassidy pondered, worried, composed, and uneasy. "I... It's probably just a fever. I'm fine, really." She lied to others, hiding her condition as much as possible.

Timothy could feel her cold skin pinching his own, which was odd due to being sunny outside and warm. "I'll put her on a bed... She needs rest." Timothy replied and passed them by, gently placing Aurora on the bed.

"Ayuka... Can't you heal her?" Chiaki threw her gaze onto Ayuka, who had her arms crossed below her chest in silence and thoughts, "I can only heal wounds... I can't heal sicknesses. Tim..." Ayuka gently placed her hand on the top of her breast, "Just tell them. They need to know."

Everyone locked their eyes on Ayuka, astonished to hear her sudden, interrupting words. "Know what? What is going on, Tim?" Chiaki became curious.

As Timothy finally managed to cover Aurora with a blanket, he stood up. "I guess there's no point in hiding it anymore... I didn't have a reason to look for Ayuka or Cyber Refuge if it wasn't for Aurora. She holds a fatal illness in her body from the infected waters from Hailstone known as ice cholera. There's no cure for it on the surface, but there's one in the Cyber Refuge. I needed to visit Ayuka to help us navigate the sea since Kyora was too far. We'd waste time looking for her." He explained, being as calm as possible and hope not to stress others too much.

"I know she's on a time limit. If we don't find a cure and stabilize her condition... she'll... die. I can't let her die. As a person and a friend, I want to help her, but I know there's no other way to do it. I want to try and find the cure for her to save her life. And even if I don't find it, I'm sure the hell gonna try."

In terror, the rest exchanged views. "What? And you were hiding that from us? Why would you do that?" Chiaki inquired, shaking in her shoes. "It wasn't my choice. She wasn't even going to tell me about her illness. I found out myself. That's why I left her uncle and you, Chiaki. To go keep an eye out for her condition, and it turned out to be the best decision I made. If I didn't follow her... who knows what could've happened to her in the woods."

As they learned about her fatal illness, the rest became horrified and speechless, "She carried her illness for more than ten years. I'm still surprised she managed to survive for such a long time. But as I saw, her body will eventually give out. And if nobody else will help her, then I'll be the one to do it. And I'll do it, I promise on my life. I tend to go to any lengths to save her."

His stern expression surprised everyone. He didn't look like a cheerful guy but as serious and determined as one could be. "And I hope you'll listen to me and help me out. I know I can't do this myself, but she can't do it without me either. And I expect you to understand."

They had no comments, but Timothy could tell. From their expressions, they were willing to help him out.

They agreed in an instant, while Aurora's face pretty much became reddened due to pain and suffering. Her eyes couldn't even open, and her groans of pain were getting louder. The pain she experienced wasn't a normal wound, but as if someone was trying to carve out her heart with a deadly knife.

She could only breathe some air, but other than that, it was evident her body would give out eventually.

To be continued...