91 - A Safe Distance (2.2k words)

Karrak's POV

"Is she still in the ocean?" I paced around the grassy field, the fire bird on my shoulders cawing and ruffling its feathers in response to my anxiety. "It's been a month already. Why is she not coming out?"

The more I looked at the sea's surface through my contact lens, the more frustrated I got. I took a deep breath and sat down, letting the cool breeze fill my lungs. My fingers dug into the soil, and I watched the birds flying in circles around me, some landing and pecking on the ground, digging for worms.

The withdrawal symptoms were hitting me especially hard today.

It felt like someone was trying to carve a hole in my chest.

I needed to see her.

I needed to check if she was okay.

Just a glance.

Just a small peek.

My mind kept drifting to the memories of the days we used to spend together, the days we would chat, and the nights we would spend holding each other. If not for the misfortunes that followed right afterward, those would have been the happiest days of my life.

"Don't get ahead of yourself," I mumbled, pulling the strands of grass, 'If you get close to her, it will be bad. It will always be bad. You have to stay away. Don't ruin it this time, Karrak. Don't do something stupid and mess things up. You have to keep a safe distance. It's better this way.'

I tried to reason and eventually got a grip on myself. If I could go on without touching and talking to her, then I could do the same without seeing her.

"She is better off without you," I kept chanting to myself, and the more I did, the easier it got to believe it, "She doesn't need you anymore. You did well. It's time to let her go."

I killed the past Yaya to make room for the current one while keeping the memories and powers that I had gained over the years. I didn't kill her in a literal sense, but her past memories were no longer here. It didn't turn me into a rootless like I had expected. It was an odd one-sided connection.

"What should we do now?" I asked the firebird on my shoulder. "Should we stay here or look for a new place?"

The bird cawed, tilting its head.

I scratched the top of its beak. "You are right. We should rest and stay for a while. We don't need to rush anymore."

The bird rubbed its head against the back of my hand, and I felt something inside my chest warm up before I disappeared into thin air.

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YaYa's POV

I held my arm against the other guy's neck and pushed him backward against my chest. My legs pressed between his legs, and my hand kept his head locked.

The ocean behind Gold's bubble was pitch black, the temperature low, but his body was burning hot against mine. I could feel his pulse racing and his muscles tensing.

"Care to explain?" I whispered in his ear.

Karrak didn't answer and immediately tried to flee.

I teleported him back and pressed harder, "I know my body like the back of my hand and can tell a difference when it's external forces that are affecting me, or my own will. At some point in my life, I acquired this ability to neutralize poisons, toxins, and harmful substances from my system much faster. However, the only way to activate that power was by putting my life in danger."

His throat bobbed, swallowing hard in response.

I didn't wait for him to answer and kept talking. "It made many people think that I've gone even crazier, and I actually did. I left the army and began searching for a part of me I never knew I had. I was never one to believe in soulmates, but that's the only term that could describe what I was looking for. Imagine waking up one day and realizing that you were incomplete, that you lacked something."

I loosened my grip a bit, and he sucked a sharp breath, his hands instinctively going up to grab my arm. He seemed to have noticed what he did and quickly dropped his arms back to his sides.

I felt my chest tighten. My heart was beating so fast that it almost made me panic and believe that I was having a heart attack. I didn't want to feel like this toward someone I didn't know. It made me feel like I was cheating on my boys, like my own heart was betraying them.

"Did you find what you were looking for?" he asked. I could tell he was affected by our close proximity, the vibrations of his voice in his throat, and the warmth of his body seeping into mine. His scent was intoxicating and filled my lungs, making me want to bury my face in his nape.

A stalker?

Am I seriously attracted to my fucking stalker?

Is this some sort of a sick kink that I've acquired from the boys?

My inner demon, the one I named 'The bitch,' laughed and rolled on the floor, enjoying the show.

Oh, girl. You have a long list of weird shit. You are a red flag yourself, and your guys are a whole traffic jam. This angel is just a cherry on top.

He has guts to call himself my guardian angel, as if it would make me view him in a better light, not.

It's him. He is the reason why I can't fully move forward with them, why I can't love them the way they want me to, the way I wish I could. It's his presence and his absence.

"Who would have thought it wasn't my soulmate I was looking for this whole time, but a beastman who somehow imprinted me behind my back?" I mumbled, trying to make sense of what was happening, "A spousal imprint that's not inside me but somehow attached to me from the outside like a string of fate. How did it happen, and what would it do to me if I allowed it to seep inside of me and tried to activate it?"

"We mated properly," he replied, his tone defiant, "It was a choice we both made. You just don't remember it, because it happened in the past that no longer exist."

He was talking as if I was supposed to believe him, as if his words made sense.

I was still skeptical, yet curious, and the urge to confirm his claim was strong.

"Why do you keep avoiding me? You said it yourself. We had a past together. Why don't you show yourself if you care about me so much? Why are you hiding from me?"

"I'm bad luck," he answered. His words were filled with so much self-hatred that they hit me straight to the heart. "Something wrong always happens when I'm near you. Even the smallest interactions I had with you brought misfortune. So next time you decide to end my call, think about the trouble you could have avoided if you just allowed me to finish my words."

He sounded pissed and frustrated as if he was fed up with my antics, but that was not the case. His breathing was uneven, and the way his voice cracked at the end told me that he was on the verge of having a panic attack.

I loosened my grip and released him. He disappeared before I could react. He didn't feel comfortable near me. That much was clear.

I looked around and detected a monstrous sea monster marching at us. It was a prehistoric eel, its body covered in scales, and its eyes were as big as a carriage. Its body was as long as a train, and it was fast.

"It looks like he wasn't lying about being a magnet for trouble," said Gold, his voice strained when he saw the creature approaching.

We've been roaming the ocean for almost a month, but there weren't many living beings that could challenge Gold's four stripes besides a few sea colossals. The collected emeralds would be saved to deal with Gold's inbred origins later on.

"Give it a try. I've got your back," I said and unsheathed my machetes. My swimming suit was tight, my hair was in a bun, and my backpack was secure on my back. Gold's bubble shrunk in size and only covered my head, giving me space to swim around freely.

Gold held his trident and aimed the spikes at the beast. They barely damaged the thick scales, and they weren't even enough to get the serpent's attention.

"Its skin is too thick," Gold grumbled, his face twisting in annoyance.

"Use your limbs," I raised my leg and kicked the side of the serpent's body. The force sent the massive creature spiraling out of control, and the dent in its scales was as deep as the bottom of a crater. There was no need to target the animal's vitals. I just needed it to make Gold run for his money.

"..." Gold stared in disbelief as I mounted the beast's head, using my machetes as levers to dig into the flesh and tilt its head in his direction, "..."

The serpent snapped its jaws, aiming for Gold. He barely escaped the first bite, the second and the third, before he gave up and fled, his long tail moving him swiftly away.

"Ninety percent dead, ten percent alive. That's the state I want you to be in," I yelled after Gold, "No less."

"..." Gold was so done with me, that he didn't even respond. The eel's tail whipped and slapped him, making him spin twice as he redirected the force elsewhere. I saw a cloud of golden glitter come out of his mouth as he gritted his teeth and swam upward.

He used his fist to punch the serpent's chin, his knuckles covered in a crystal layer resembling his scales. The fins on his arms hardened into sharp blades that he used to hack and stab at the serpent.

"Not bad," I hummed. He was getting more creative with his fighting style. Aside from the training with the boys, Gold also trained on his own, learning and evolving.

He didn't stop until his hands were shaking, his knuckles and fingers were torn apart, bleeding, and the fin on his arms were completely worn off.

The resilience of his beastman's side was admirable. He could go on until his body would give up, and his organs would shut down.

The dino eel got tired and attempted to flee, no longer interested in fighting and chasing Gold. I patted its head and threw a few crystals into its jaw before letting it go.

Gold sunk deeper from exhaustion, and I caught him by his arm, swimming and dragging him back to the surface. I kept him afloat while his breathing stabilized. His hair was longer than usual, and the ocean's waves made it float around him like a golden halo.

I leaned over to peck him on the lips. "Only seventy percent dead. How am I going to punish you now, hm?"

Gold's brows twitched, and he pursed his lips. I smiled and pulled his lower lip between my teeth. He was so annoyed with me, that his eyes were glued to the side. His lips, though, were as soft and welcoming as ever.

"Seventy five percent," I said as I raised his knuckles, making him jolt. The adrenaline rush from the fight was wearing off, and he was becoming aware of the pain.

His blood lured in some hungry sharks, and I took the chance to serve him a nutritious meal. His appetite grew, and I hoped his stomach wouldn't turn into a picky black hole like Vick's once he becomes a penta.

I raised my eyes at the group of flying albatrosses above us. One of them flew down and landed on my shoulders. It dropped a letter in my palm and waited.

I opened it, and the letter read, "I'm sorry for leaving you like that, and thank you for listening to my words. -Karrak."

Again, I was given a phone. Karrak had his rules, and this was the only way he felt safe and comfortable talking to me.

I looked at the bird and gave it a piece of the shark sashimi. "Something is telling me that Mother Nature loves your Master so much that she's refusing to share him with anyone else."

The bird tilted its head and ate the sashimi. It pecked the palm of my hand for another treat, not responding to my words.

I looked at Gold and found him glaring at the bird. Was he jealous of a bird?

Gold quickly looked away, parting his mouth slightly to indicate that he wanted me to feed him more food.

The boys were all such babies on the inside that they were making me want to smooch and squeeze their cheeks whenever they acted like ones.

I fed Gold his portion of the shark together with an emerald. Then shooed away the bird, which flew back to its flock.

"Can you swim now?" I asked Gold, and he nodded.

We continued traveling through the ocean, searching for treasures and fighting the unfortunate beasts that crossed our path.

╔═══ Author's note ════╗

Now, we know why Yaya left the army. 🧐

What could she mean by saying that Mother Nature loved Karrak too much?😮

Poor Gold, traveling with YY is more dangerous than traveling the ocean alone. 🫢🤣

We also know why she used to look for danger so much, it was to purify her body faster with Karrak's spousal imprint. 😯

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