Adrift

Only as she ascended out from the ocean's deep claustrophobic grip did her senses return to her. The memories flooding her mind were instantly cut as she breached the surface. Slowly, air gushed into her lungs as an audible gasp disturbed the serene surroundings. 

She had not even the time to register her circumstances before she was carefully flung aboard the safe confines of the raft. Sprawled across its deck, baffled and spluttering, she embraced its hard, damp texture gratefully. A few moments passed before a fellow exhausted body collapsed alongside her. She turned to watch it with awe as inky black liquid concealed the entirety of its figure. Feebly, she flipped herself onto her back and spoke in a low, tired voice, unable to reach out to the figure beside her. 

"H, how'd you do it?"

Chocking on salty water, he stood to his knees. Alert yet slightly disoriented, he scanned his surroundings before turning to look down at Asteria with a puzzled glance. 

"I don't know. Everything, all of it, it was all just black. But, it was strange. I could have sworn I felt something inside of me, tearing."

Asteria returned an even more baffled glance as she watched the boy clumsily pull himself into a stand. Even if he was utterly clueless about what had happened, she was certainly not. With a resigned expression, she turned away from him, allowing her eyes to rest upon the inky black ocean that continued to obscure every hint of clarity it could.

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Not a lot of talking occurred after that. They sat quietly on opposite sides of the raft, perpetually dreary, out of breath and low on just about everything. Eventually, Asteria, unable to sit still for as long, asked the question. 

"So what now?"

The question was entirely redundant. Clearly, Perses had no idea either. If he had known, they wouldn't have ended up drifting aimlessly for what had likely been hours. Yet she had hoped to have sparked at least some kind of response from the boy who saved her. But instead, she was disappointed by the man's silence.

"Say... Perses. How long have you been alive?"

Asteria turned round once more to stare at Perses quizzically. Briefly glancing over his shoulder, he realized she was being earnest. Still, his answer lagged behind as if he was struggling to answer. Perhaps he was still dreary from being submerged for so long. But there was probably something else to it.

"Uh, maybe a month. Wait how long is a month again?"

Asteria did her best to resist uttering a retort or palming her face. Though she managed to close her mouth, a sigh still escaped her tired features. 

"Great. It's even worse than I thought then." Standing to her feet, Asteria approached Perses, preventing him from escaping again to whatever was distracting him inside his head. "You remember what Amelia said right?"

"Uhhh-"

"She said I'm in charge. I bet you don't even realize what kind of position we're in right now?"

Asteria was very glad Perses had made it back aboard, even saving her foolish self in the process. She even felt a little guilty for using such a condescending tone with him, but right now, she couldn't help it. Though Perses had shown himself to be more capable than she had originally assumed, he was still young. Unimaginably so. It was now clear to her now, that they wouldn't make it. That is unless she stepped up. 

"Fine then I'll tell you. Food, water? We don't have anything like that."

Asteria noticed a flicker of uncertainty coarse through Perse's body as he nervously turned, finally giving her his full attention. She couldn't help but look away from his concerned eyes, feeling only a little sorry for him. 

"Look, I know waiting for Amelia to return would be the easiest way. But we've drifted too far. Who knows how long it will take her? If we get too dehydrated, we'll have no way to move forward."

She was careful not to say her actual thoughts out loud. After all, even considering it was Amelia, there was no real certainty she would be returning anytime soon, if ever. Finding them in this vast ocean or chasing them to some obscure land would be equally as tricky as fighting whatever monster was back there. Simply put, waiting was not an option for them. 

"I get it. So just say it. You want me to push the raft again, don't you?

Looking down, slightly ashamed, she did her best to devise a way to convince Perses, but before she could manage, she found herself interrupted. 

"It's fine. I'll do it. 

A little taken aback by his assertion, she found herself void of response. The more she thought about it, the further her face twisted into disbelief. 

"You were attacked and almost drowned just hours ago. How come you're so keen?"

Perses ignored her prying eyes and delicately lowered himself back into the water. Finally, most of the ink seemed to wash off his exhausted body. Even now, after driving aimlessly for hours, he could still see traces of that darkness clouding the ocean to his rear. 

'Where'd it all come from anyway?'

'Clearly, you killed whatever that was. What are you stupid?

Perses shook his head in response to the voice inside his head. 

'No way, how would I forget something like that? Think a little, would you?'

Before Perses had time to listen to the voice's nagging response, he looked up to find a very agitated Asteria. 

"What?"

With a snort, she ignored him and turned to sit on the opposite side of the raft, doing her best to counterbalance his weight. From her perch, she watched him with displeased hazel eyes that Perses did his best to avoid. 

Comfortably laying his arms on the raft, he started to kick his legs once more. His comfortable demeanour was not missed by the girl who observed him closely. 

'Hey why is she looking at me like that?'

'How should I know? More importantly, remind me, what are we doing here?'

Perse's eyes tightened at the devil's puzzling words.

'Well, obviously, we're leaving the kingdom because it's dangerous-

'It's dangerous here too.'

Having his thoughts cut off was relatively annoying and something Perses had yet to experience. Knitting his eyebrows, he couldn't help but be taken aback by her straightforward words as he sought to justify himself. 

'Well... yes. We came here because Amelia saved us and told us to join her-

'Exactly... and now she's gone. I'll make sure to dumb it down for you, but you almost died a moment ago, remember? Let's just find our way back to land, who cares what the simple girl thinks.'

Perses listened as a look of understanding dawned on him. But this was quickly juxtaposed by a look of mild annoyance. 

'Ok, fine. Then tell me, which way is back?'

A long silence persisted; all the while, Perse's face grew increasingly agitated. 

'I don't know, figure it out. That's your problem.'

The devil continued to insult him further, and all the while, his face turned grimmer. That was until he looked up at the girl whose jugful gaze had yet to leave his figure. A hint of awkwardness betrayed his features as he quickly looked away from the argumentative woman.

"Perses, be honest. What are you doing?"

"I'm pushing the raft. What does it look like?"

Her suspicious hazel eyes darkened as she waited patiently from her pedestal aboard the raft.

"There's something you're not telling me, isn't there?"

Unwilling to avoid her gaze any further, Perses challenged her with his own focused yet aloof stare.

"Obviously. There's stuff you haven't told me either, and that's fine; I don't really care."

If Asteria was insulted, she didn't show it. Instead, it was Perses who again reeled away from her intense gaze. Those hazel eyes that looked upon his entire figure so closely. Their resemblance to a certain someone was really starting to play on Perse's nerves.

"Look, what's your problem, Asteria? I did everything you said, why isn't that enough? What else do you want me to do?"

With a sigh, Asteria rested her head upon her hand as she crossed her legs. 

"What kind of secrets do you want to know? If you tell me what it is you've been doing this last minute, I'll tell you anything you like in return."

Perses couldn't help but be taken slightly aback by her soft tone. His mood turned from deeply sceptical to mildly intrigued as he raised his gaze up high. Growing increasingly impatient, she waved at the boy, lost in an aimless stare.

"Out with it already, what do you want to know?"

'Hey traiter don't get any ideas. I don't want anything to do with her.'

Perses ignored the insults, only spurred on by the devil's insulting manner he asked. "Back then, when you were talking about me dying and about your powers. I'm not sure I believe you, but I'am curious, I guess. How did I die?" 

Asteria's face turned grim. The dark hazel tinge of her eyes was eerily reminiscent. Even her method of sitting, legs crossed and head attentively tilted forwards. It was unpleasantly familiar to Perses.

"Well. Ok. I make it a habit to forget these things, but just for you I'll remember."

Perses blinked. In contrast to the dark gleam of her eyes, Asteria smiled unsettlingly. 

"If that's really what you want. I'll tell you how we died."