They were lost once more, but this time like a running train that got derailed left to be stuck in the middle of nowhere, utterly helpless. They’d felt vulnerable before when all this first began and they were left on their own in the apartment. But now that felt almost like child’s play compared to the fact that this time they were smack in the middle of an alien-infested ocean. Not to mention the turtle, who’d been nothing short of a watchful protector and a guiding mentor, the only beacon of hope they had in the midst of this peril, was now dead too. And with that hope gone, they were shrouded in the suffocating darkness of being left on their own again.
Not even caring to tend to the animals mindlessly floating above them, Caleb fell to the seabed in despair. “I can’t believe it’s gone just like that, how are we supposed to go on without it?”
Noel didn’t know how to answer that. While she wasn’t as devastated as when she found out her and Caleb’s families were probably dead, her mind was in more disarray than ever. Nearly everything had been going relatively well, to the point they were even growing confident in what they initially thought would be necessary but too overwhelming for them. Now all of that had fallen apart in the cruelest way imaginable. This feeling of being given a sense of hope only to have it stripped away out of the blue left her with greater fear than anything this alien invasion had to offer.
“But we can’t just stay here either…” Was all Noel could manage as she slowly descended to where Caleb was. She wished she could something better to say than that. But anything she had to say in this state of mind would just come out as empty words most likely to hurt than help, and that was the last thing either of them needed after such emotional damage.
Despite his current state of mind, Caleb did seem to still have sense left in him – and also probably because he was scared like Noel – for he quietly said in response, “We need to find a place to hide.”
Noel nodded in agreement. In such a defenseless position as theirs right now, even if they had no idea what to do in the face of all this, the least they could do was ensure they kept themselves safe. Then remembering the animals they just freed, she asked, “Shouldn’t we do something about them?”
“We probably should.” Caleb replied, and with Noel’s help he lifted himself up from the seabed to tend to the animals with her. But with their minds in such a mess from their loss, they couldn’t give most of the animals the proper protection they needed due to lack of concentration. Eventually, all they could manage was make sure only ten out of the sixty or so animals were well-protected when the sun began to set and lit up the waters in a warm orange hue. Quite the contrary atmosphere to what Noel and Caleb were feeling inside, which was nothing but the familiar sense of grief-stricken numbness they’d never wanted to go back to again.
This lead them to do what they never would have done under normal circumstances – give up and send off all the animals before they set off themselves in search of shelter. As Noel glanced over her shoulder at the last animal in sight with a sense of guilty unease, she heard Caleb say, “If we stayed put to protect them all we most likely wouldn’t have been able to protect ourselves either, we never know what could be lurking around here. And you know what…” He stopped mid-sentence as if even his thoughts were being choked by grief, and he continued after a few seconds, “…what the turtle said about travelling in huge numbers.”
That was what Caleb told her through his mind, but Noel could sense what he was really thinking at the back of his head. It was easy to tell, since it was the same thing she had on her own mind. Where was the point of trying to protect those animals when they couldn’t even guarantee full safety for themselves? The two of them were powerless to do anything of help for the turtle when it saved their lives by giving its own. So what kind of wishful thoughts were they having to be under the impression that they could protect anything when they couldn’t protect the very reason they were still alive? Hell, after today, the idea of them being the only ones left who could do something to protect the entire earth from the aliens seemed like the most foolish thing ever.
Noel was even starting to have doubts about what they were thinking when they chose to set out on this journey. Sure, they did initially hesitate, but only now they were seeing those hesitations were right all along. Maybe they were too desperate for a way out of this. Maybe they’d been blinded by either the security and hope the turtle had provided for them, or the immediate danger of monsters lurking outside the apartment. Either way, they were willing to grasp at straws and attempt a dangerous move. And now look where that premature judgement had got them in.
She glanced at Caleb out of the corner of her eye and shook her head, instead trying to concentrate more on detecting any fish for them to eat. The turtle’s death had broke them enough already, she couldn’t bring herself to make them feel worse by openly bringing up her thoughts. But little did she know as she turned her attention away from him, Caleb was wiping his eyes from feeling hot tears escape them upon hearing for himself what was going on inside Noel’s head.
By the time Noel and Caleb had found another cave to hide in, they’d caught enough fish to fill up for the night, which was starting to loom over the skies and above them like a shadow of darkness – a perfect analogy of what was sure to await them without the turtle as their guiding beacon.
They settled themselves into the cave and ate in silence as they couldn’t find any reason to chat at the moment. However, Caleb did pipe up in a dismal voice after the last of the meat had disappeared into their mouths, “At least those parts of our skills are still perfect, even though I’d rather it be the skills we would’ve needed as a must for all of this.”
“What?” Noel could only look up from the last of the fish she was eating, surprised by this sudden comment. Seeing this, Caleb sighed and added, “Never mind, it’s not like we can ever perfect said skills anyway when there’s no one to cover for us, much less guide us, like it has always been.”
Noel knew what Caleb was talking about but decided not to draw more attention to it in fear of hurting him again. A bit of dead silence later Caleb spoke again, almost in a mutter from his tone of voice sounding even more dismal than before, “What do you say we just keep staying here in this cave, Noel? Just the two of us hiding from those monsters until they consume all the food they can find and leave earth after having their fill, then we’ll be at peace… even if it means being the only ones left, and never getting our legs back because we never mastered shapeshifting…”
Noel couldn’t bear to look Caleb properly in the face as she listened. She knew how much their situation had gone downhill, but even with that said she hated seeing him of all people so depressed, when normally she’d seen him act so positively with most things. Such as from the way he spoke of his aspirations as a Youtuber, when practicing their abilities, or even right after they’d thwarted the giant crab. And worse, she still couldn’t think of the right thing to say. At the same time, she was scared of what might happen if she continued to try nothing and stayed silent, as her mind flashed back to when Caleb had tried to do something after learning of their families’ deaths.
Hoping she could lead him to snapping himself out of his slump, Noel timidly asked as a start, “How long do you suppose that’s gonna take?”
“I don’t know, but if it means we get to live eventually instead of… dying right here and now, then I’m willing to wait as long as it takes.” Caleb replied. He twitched a bit at his own mention of the word “dying”, the sight of which sent another small sting of pain through Noel’s heart.
Noel looked back to the day the turtle first spoke to them, as well as reminiscing how Caleb was just as scared and hesitant as she’d been back then but still chose to take a chance at ensuring their and the remaining survivors’ safety from the aliens. Seeing the stark contrast in behavior from him made Noel feel the additional weight of powerlessness on top of everything else. If Caleb was this far gone from the devastation he was feeling, she was lost not just from the hopeless peril the turtle’s death had left them in, but also lost from possibly being unable to help him in any way.
“That was when we thought we knew the risks, not to mention scared at the thought of getting killed right then and there by those lizard-like things. That’s the only reason we agreed to do this, the fear of what could happen to us right now instead of in the long run.” Caleb spoke again, and Noel jumped a little. She was so wrapped up in her thoughts and her own slump, she had forgotten the fact that Caleb could very well hear those thoughts. “Because the thought of immediate death scared us, and also the turtle covering for us with everything, despite our imperfect abilities and strengths we thought we stood a chance. What kind of chance do you think we stand now that it’s gone? Not to mention the unexpected things even the turtle didn’t see coming, like the crabs.”
Silently cursing herself for letting her thoughts be heard, Noel didn’t think anything else. She’d hit a wall with what Caleb had said, for she couldn’t deny they were all indisputable facts. It was one thing to think they were ready to face a certain kind of danger in fear of a different one, and another to actually face that danger. Now that they were in the latter situation, they could see clearer than ever their so-called hopes were nothing more than illusions. They just weren’t ready.
Noel shook her head to herself. No matter how much she wanted to help Caleb, there was no going around the cold, hard reality of the situation. Neither of them were as strong or skilled as the turtle, and that was saying something when the turtle itself had said it was one of the weaker ones of its kind. And facing off against the aliens to take down the rifts was already hard even with the turtle’s help, so it was safe to say doing the same thing without it had a success chance of below zero.
“I appreciate you wanting to make me feel better, especially when this shouldn’t be any easier for you as it is for me… but as optimistic as you may find me for the most part, I’m afraid it’s time to be a realist.” Said Caleb, and Noel guiltily rolled her tailfin up to her chest to bury her face there. She couldn’t believe she’d let her thoughts be heard again. She cursed herself some more, wishing she could just stop thinking entirely so as to stop her from hurting both Caleb and herself.
Caleb sighed and lied down on the cave floor. “I’m sorry if I pressured you, which I’m sure I did.” He said, rolling over to turn his back to Noel. Even though what he said were facts they had to face, he also felt just as guilty as Noel did for making her feel worse in an already bad situation, and thus couldn’t bring himself to face her. “Why don’t we both just go to sleep already, that way we don’t have to think about anything at all, even for a brief moment…”
Not too long after saying this, Caleb fell completely silent. Taking this as him having fallen fast asleep, Noel found herself left alone to drown in her own miserable thoughts again. She sat near the cave opening and looked out at the vast moonlit ocean spread out before her eyes. Normally this sight wouldn’t have looked too bad, pretty even, but in Noel’s current mood it looked more barren and desolate, very much like their state of minds. Sometime later the rest of the world would also begin to look and feel like this until the aliens left it for dead and Noel and Caleb were the only life forms left, assuming they’d still be alive by that time.
She looked back at Caleb who continued to lie motionless in his sleep. Right then Noel felt the sudden urge to burst into tears erupt from deep within her, and the next thing she knew she was sobbing into her tailfin. They couldn’t protect the world, their guardian alien, and now here she was, unable to protect from misery the only one left that she held dear. “Why are we so worthless?!”
But what Noel didn’t know was that Caleb wasn’t actually asleep. Despite lying down to sleep, his head wouldn’t allow it due to all the troubled thoughts plaguing it, as well as his heart. Unbeknownst to Noel, his shoulders were shaking uncontrollably in a fit of silent cries, while one particular thought escaped his lips to not be audibly heard. “Just please promise you’ll keep being with me… please…”
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* * *
Noel was back home in her apartment. Everything about it was normal as ever. From the couch in front of the TV – which was tuned in to the sports channel – to the spotlessly clean kitchen, and even the fish tank in the living room corner containing her two pet fish, it was all there. She took a moment to fully comprehend her surroundings until her eyes fell on both her parents walking towards her with the most comforting smiles on their faces, beckoning her to come forth.
“Mom, dad…” Noel found herself calling out loud, before running towards and tackling them both in a happy embrace. They of course hugged back, saying how everything was going to be just fine.
“Mhm…” Noel nodded, still holding onto them dearly. “I love you both so much…”
To hear them say those words back to her, to feel their warmth and love to the fullest by herself was everything Noel could ever ask for. At that moment, her heart couldn’t be at greater peace.
Then that peace was interrupted without warning by the windows all around them flooding with water. Noel couldn’t see what was going on outside the windows, all she could tell was that immense amounts of water was gushing from outside into the house, which was quickly filling up.
“Mom! Dad! We need to all get out of here-“ Noel began speaking, but even during the time she said this the water rose right above their heads, and then she felt her legs merge into one long, flexible limb which she somehow recognized immediately as her tailfin. On top of that, by the time she had taken the time to see it happen and notice herself breathing under water, the entire house was completely full and her parents were pounding helplessly at the walls, looking like they wouldn’t be able to hold their breaths for much longer.
Panicking, Noel swam to where they were as fast as she could, but before she could to do anything, her parents were reduced to just a couple of lifeless bodies floating like ragdolls in the water. She didn’t even have the time to grieve or be in denial over this, as the turtle suddenly appeared out of nowhere to tell her there was nothing she could have done to make a change.
“What are you-“ Noel was unable to finish her sentence due to an interruption in the form of a big red claw bursting through the ceiling and snapping at the turtle, cutting its whole body in half.
Just as Noel was about to scream at the sheer terror and chaos of all this, she felt herself open her eyes and everything before her disappeared to be replaced with a rocky cave wall.
“A… dream…?” She muttered. She sat up from where she lay and looked around to confirm she had indeed been having a nightmare. She was still in the underwater cave she and Caleb had found to use as the night’s shelter. Not even a fragment of her apartment home, or giant crabs were in sight.
Wait… Caleb?
Only now did Noel realize Caleb wasn’t where he’d been lying last night, or anywhere in the cave, for that matter. Just as she swam upright and called out, “Caleb, where-“ she heard his voice scream inside her head like someone fearing for their life, “AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!!!”
Noel instantly grabbed her harpoon and swam out of the cave towards where she sensed Caleb’s voice had come from. What she saw there almost made her recoil in horror.
Caleb’s whole body except for his head and shoulders was wrapped up in the body of a creature that resembled a sea snake, except this one was about the size of an anaconda rather than your average sea snake. And right now this huge serpent was closing its wide open mouth in on Caleb’s neck, baring a pair of fangs as long as pencils.
Luckily the thing never got to sink its teeth into Caleb, as Noel sped towards it as fast as her tailfin would allow her to slash out at its body with her harpoon. And although the snake got out of the way by releasing itself from Caleb in a swift swivel that left him spinning on the spot for a couple of seconds, Noel’s attack did leave it with a painful red gash across part of its body.
“Are you okay? What the hell happened?!” Noel asked in a relieved panic, and Caleb replied, “I’m sorry, I woke up first and went if I could find anything for us to eat as breakfast, but I stupidly forgot to check if there was any danger nearby! It’s just that in all the kerfuffle from yesterday I-“
“Save it for later, it’s coming back!” Noel turned her gaze back to the sea snake, which had stopped writhing in pain from the cut she inflicted on it and had just begun to lunge at them both. Noel and Caleb quickly swam out of the way in two different directions, and the snake missed its targets, swimming right past them. It recovered almost instantly though, and this time tried circling them with its long body before lunging a second time. Noel and Caleb were able to see this coming from the way they were being surrounded and dodged the attack by swimming underneath the snake’s circling body and away from it.
“You have your harpoon with you?” Noel asked, and Caleb quickly picked it back up from the ocean floor. “Lucky I did, since I did think I’d have to spear the fish if I caught any.” He said.
“Lucky indeed…” Noel replied. She turned again in the direction the snake was at and Caleb did the same, only for them to see it was nowhere in sight anymore.
“What the hell? It can’t have given up this easily…” Noel muttered in confusion. She carefully looked here and there in search of so much as a glimpse of the thing’s black-and-white striped pattern slithering around somewhere, while Caleb slowly attempted to swim back to the cave saying, “I think it’s best if we head back inside and wait until we can confirm it’s gone, let’s not look for any trouble by continuing to be out here…”
Noel then focused on her surroundings like when she was sensing nearby fish. True to her skepticism about the snake having given up, she could still detect its presence. What she didn’t expect though, was for it to be coming from near the cave entrance, exactly where Caleb was heading towards.
“Caleb, come back! It’s right there in front of the cave!” Noel screamed with her eyes wide open in shock. Caleb didn’t know what was happening, but still being able to notice the urgency in Noel’s voice, he stopped himself just in time and swam backwards away from the cave. At once something that unmistakably looked like a transparent outline of a huge snake sped past mere inches away from the tip of Caleb’s nose. Once Noel held him by the hands and pulled him away from harm’s way, the outline filled in with black and white stripes complete with a pair of eyes, nostrils, and a wide open mouth at one end of it, prompting Caleb to scream at the sight, “Camouflage!”
Immediately the snake attacked once more by lunging, and the two of them this time dodged it by swerving to dive into the cave entrance. The snake, despite coming at them at great speed, used its flexible body to its fullest to steer sharply away from the rock and avoid meeting the same fate as the crab Noel and Caleb had encountered the other day. After that it was out of sight again.
Sitting on the cave floor to catch their breaths, Noel and Caleb soon got themselves back together to hold their harpoons at the ready while never taking their eyes off the cave entrance for a second. The entrance was just wide enough for the two of them to swim through with no hassle, so should the snake try to come in through it, there was no way they wouldn’t be able to see it.
“How did you see through the snake’s camouflage?” Caleb asked in a whisper, before quickly adding to himself, “That aside, I can’t believe some of these aliens can even do that…”
“I didn’t – I just sensed it like I do when we catch fish.” Noel replied. “And by the way, some sea snakes on earth can indeed change their color, so who’s to say these things can’t…”
“Where’s the snake now?” Caleb asked again. “I’ll try to help by doing the same, despite my skills at it not being as good as yours.”
Even as Caleb said this, Noel went right ahead and concentrated again. But the moment she did, she found herself to be in for a real shock as she felt the snake’s presence from all directions.
“Shit, it’s circling us again! It’s in here with us!” Noel shouted and seized Caleb’s arm to pull him and herself away from the snake, just as she felt its scaly body scrape against hers in a missed attempt to wrap itself around them.
“It must’ve snuck inside while we were catching our breath!” Caleb exclaimed. Not being able to see the snake but still feeling it like Noel did, he blindly swung his harpoon in the direction where he felt something move. To his surprise, he felt the blade hit something, and the next second the snake’s face appeared barely a couple of feet away from him as its black and white striped pattern flickered into view, sporting a gash where the knife had slashed it. The snake was once again writhing briefly in pain from the attack, buying Noel and Caleb enough time to escape the cave.
“Did it get you anywhere? Everything okay?” Noel did a quick check on the parts of Caleb’s body she could see, and he replied, “The thing bumped into me, but I don’t think I’m hurt.”
“Good…” Noel muttered, and then immediately raised her voice with a shout of, ”Look out!” upon noticing the snake speeding right towards the cave opening where they were at. Instinctively she pushed Caleb out of the way just in time, but almost didn’t have enough time for herself when the snake shot out of the cave like a torpedo. She felt a sharp pain on her left arm even as she sped backwards to dodge the creature, and checked the spot to see a clear red scratch mark on it. One of the snake’s fangs must’ve grazed her as it came for them from inside the cave.
“Not a problem, it’s barely even bleeding…” Noel thought and briefly squeezed the part of her arm where the scratch was to relieve a bit of the pain. She then turned her attention back to her surroundings as the snake vanished from view, camouflaging itself for the next attack.
Even in the middle of her utmost focus, Noel called, “Caleb, get over here! It’s best we stick together!” and almost felt her heart jump into her throat when she turned to look at him and sensed the snake sneaking up behind him, all while he was still obliviously trying to detect it for himself.
“Caleb, no!” She shouted and swam towards both him and the snake. Immediately figuring out he might be in danger, Caleb spun around with his harpoon swinging out in every direction possible, but it wasn’t until Noel finally reached him and grabbed his arm to pull him away from the snake again that either of them managed to land a hit on it. Something that felt like the front of the snake’s snout smashed into Noel right as she moved Caleb out of the way, and she felt the sharp pain of the snake’s fang piercing her skin again, this time somewhere on her right side. The impact of this sent her flying backwards through the water before hitting the seabed, but not without the snake receiving a stab in the side of the snout from her. And as if on cue, the snake’s camouflage broke and both Noel and Caleb could see it writhing on the spot yet again.
But this was the least of their concern at that moment, with Noel squeezing a hand onto the side where the snake’s fang had bit her, and Caleb swimming towards her with eyes full of worry, “You’re hurt! Is it deep? Can you still move? I’m sorry you had to do that just to save me-“
“I’m very much still alive, thanks!” Noel raised a hand to show she was fine – albeit admittedly in a bit of pain – and glanced back at the snake, adding, “There’s no way we’re getting away from that thing unless it dies or we do, is it?”
“It’s most certainly gonna be the latter!” Said Caleb, a grimace of fear forming on his face. “It’s too much - we can’t properly see it when it’s camouflaged, and I can’t sense it as well as you can!”
Noel nodded silently. Her being able to sense it when it was camouflaged did help a bit, but not enough to allow them to escape from this danger. Not being able to see the enemy with their own eyes put them at quite a disadvantage. Dare she say it, sight was half the fight in this situation.
That one concept seemed to turn on a lightbulb in her head, and her eyes widened. She grabbed Caleb by the arm for the third time and rushed themselves back into the cave while they still could.
“What are we trying to do, hide? You saw that didn’t work out at all!” Caleb began to protest, but Noel firmly replied, “Just do what I say and hide behind that cave wall right next to the entrance!”
Caleb had no idea what Noel was on about but did as he was told anyway, not being able to see anything else they could do. Noel did the same and hid behind the wall on the other side of the cave entrance, then said, “No doubt it’ll sense we’re in here and come for us. When it comes – and you know I’ll tell you if it does – stick your harpoon out in front of you.”
“Whatever you have in mind, I hope it’s a good idea…” Caleb muttered in a nearly hopeless voice, but still held his harpoon closely in front of him to prepare for what Noel expected to happen. Sure enough, only a few seconds later Noel could sense the snake’s presence outside approaching the cave entrance. Just as Caleb could barely make out the faint outline of the creature’s head sneaking inside, Noel shouted, “NOW!” and stabbed at the outline.
Caleb followed suit a split second later, and to his astonishment the snake came into full view before them, both of their harpoons embedded into the sides of its neck where blood began to blossom out in thin red wisps. There was no doubt the creature was surviving an attack like this.
“We can’t face off against what we can’t see… likewise I figured it too wouldn’t be able to predict a move that it literally can’t see coming…” Said Noel, looking down at the result of her improvisation that she honestly didn’t fully expect to work, but was glad that it did. Both she and Caleb panted heavily as they felt the adrenaline rush from their peril fade away, but it wasn’t long until Noel felt something else fading away from her.
All of a sudden she felt weak to the point of not being able to move her body properly. In a state of confusion and panic she looked down at herself and found it to be growing more and more limp by the second, followed by a numbness that seemed to start from her side and left arm where the snake’s fangs had hurt her. The last thing she felt go numb after there was completely no feeling left at all in her body was her hearing and eyesight, as she could barely see or hear Caleb calling out to her, “Noel? Are you alright? What is it?” before everything went completely black and silent.