A bright light swallowed me whole, burning my retinas. But when I opened my eyes I could still see. I had my hands, my legs, and my whole body but everything around me was white. It was an endless, serene, and static white.

"Help me..." Someone cried behind me.

But when I turned around to the voice behind me, the surroundings were dyed with blue... A very dark, squelching, and mucky blue. She's there. I can reach her. If I just took a step more... I can reach her hand.

But I can never touch it again. Because it's not there. It's a reflection in the water. I can't reach it. No matter how many steps I take... I will never get it back.

"�̵̨̬̤̳̗̹͐̀̏͂̒̄̑͝�̶̨͎̰̰̣̘͖̠̄̿�̴̨͇̮̺̠̯̹̈́̈́̀͒̀ͅ�̸̎͗̀̐̎�̴̢͚̲̪͈̃̓̿͠" It spoke to me. But I can't understand what it's saying.

"..." I stayed silent.

"�̵̨͕̼̟̯̙̱͇̽̂̂̂̓̂�̷̧̞̲̝̑̓̏̾̄̎͑͠�̷̼̬͚̭̥̊̄͒̈̎͆̐͝�̸̡̦̩͕̜̬̣͛͒̉̓͐̀͠�̶̊́̀̐͒͗" It spoke again.

"..." And I stayed silent again.

"Ẁ̷̛̩̲̰͖̔̊̚ḣ̸̝͙̩̮̒̓ȳ̵̜̮̝̮͝ ̶̢̝͈̉́ḓ̵̛̖͚̯͖̯̉́̌̋ḯ̶͍̺̗̥̤̎͝�̷̝̗̊̀̈́̅͠�̴̡̳̦̍ͅe̶̛̜͒͂̐͋͘ͅļ̸̫̺̻̓̆̐͝�̸̣̫̥̩̲͌̾́�̴̨̳̭̼̩̞̓̈́͝͝�̸̫̹̉̕̕͝�̸͇͇̭͗͐̆m̷̗͇͒̀̾͗̐̆͜ĕ̸̤̜̯̉̽̓͝�̷̨̪̠̙̤͊̑͌̒̐̒?" It spoke yet again, this time I'm able to catch a few words.

"..." But I didn't reply.

"W̴̙̑͆ḩ̸̱͎̈́̒y̸̦̣͚͗ ̶̙̤̌͒̇͛d̷̢̈̈ͅì̶̡̻�̵̦̖̀̏̎y̷̪͎̺̞̹̔̑̈́o̶͉̝͎̗͕͋̑͠u̵̙̻͈͝�̷̼̳̜͆͐�̵͚͇̙̋̔̈̈́͘ḥ̴̟̭̓e̷̛̲l̷̡̦̗̞̠̀p̷̦̩̂͋͊�̵̯͓͔̱̗̐̎͊͋�̵̺̘̰̣͓̔̉̋ṁ̶͉̥̅̕e̶͓̦̦̔̈́̒̌͝�̵̬̮̂̃̎͝"

"No..."

"W̷̟̘̄̄̉ḣ̷̢̜̫̱̆͘y̵̢̖̾ ̴̃͆̈́͜d̸͈͍̦̋̿͒̊i̶̋̊͐ͅḑ̸̘̤̭̼̈́̒͝͝͠ṇ̴͙͙̟̀̈́'̵̠̟̻̫̾̀t̵̮̤̟͔̝͊̉̋̂̏ ̵̱̳̀́ÿ̴̘̦̰́̋͠ō̷̯̃̏̚͝u̴̥̓ ̸͉͚̣͙̱͋̿h̷̰̬̳̠͐e̶̛͇͋̊l̸̰̫͚̉̀̀p̶̺͘ ̴͔̯͉̎̃̕̕͜m̸̼̅͠͝ͅë̸͕̟̑?" It repeated it's question, on the verge of crying.

"NO..."

"Why didn't you help me?" It cried to me, tears flowing down it's pale skin. Confused why I'm staying silent.

"SHUT UP!!!"

No... it's not that I didn't understand what it said. I just closed off my heart. I didn't want to take the blame, I wanted to run away from it. I always knew what it was trying to say to me. That it wanted me to help it. But I couldn't.

I look at it's reflection again. The reflection clears up revealing two blue orbs staring back at me. She had smooth silky white hair, it's super long. In that reflection... No, in that sea. Is the drowned corpse of my sister. My cute little sister.

"..." I looked around me. I'm still inside the cabin, lying down on the bed. And to my right is my sister's bed... No, it was my cute sister's bed.

"A nightmare," I let out a laugh, I'm so pathetic.

It's been a few days since the thunderstorm took my sister away from me, I lost track of time. I leave the room and climb to the upper deck, viewing the sunrise sea. I leaned forward and rested my arms on the railings. It really does look like her eyes.

"So you're over here again," Anastasia—the oldest sibling—sat next to me, her back leaning against the railing.

"...Yeah."

"You know, I'm not giving up."

"..."

"She may still be over there. Beyond those horizons," she reached her hand out. "We may still be able to meet her again," she grasped at the sun closing her hand.

"..."

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"I'm gonna leave tonight, there's still a few rowing boats left. We should be near Asgelius, I'll take some supplies and search for her there."

"..." I stayed silent, nodding not looking my sister in the eyes.

♦ ♦ ♦

"Mm..." It's hot...

"...Open the door Royce."

It's still very hot...

"Royce...?" I called for my big brother, still half asleep.

I rubbed my eyes using the blanket. Looking around, everything was sparkling blue. Something smells bad... I moved around, confused until something slimy touched my leg.

"AH?!" The shock sent a jolt, shaking me awake.

Oh... It's just the mucka rail. It's hot... "Open the door Royce."

I looked around, I'm in the middle of the sea in a rowing boat.

"...Royce?" I called out to him, my eyes watering.

"...Royce? Sniff sniff," I bawled, crying. "Uwaaahhhh!!"

After a few minutes of crying, she positioned herself on the front of the rowing boat hugging herself in a ball. And so hours passed by in silence, with the waves rocking the boat, bobbing it up and down with a whooshing sound.

...Help me Royce, Anastasia... Rudz! Mom... Dad...

Grumble... Her stomach growled.

...If only Royce was here... He would cook the miker rill for me... I'm hungry...

A few hours passed again.

What am I gonna do... There's no one that will help me... I'm all alone... Her eyes started watering again. No... I need to help myself! But she didn't cry, instead her eyes were burning with the fiery passion to survive. She looked at the mackerel.

Grabbing the mackerel by the head, she steeled her resolve and opened her mouth. It stinks... She smelled the putrid odor of the mackerel. I think it's spoiled... I can't eat that.

Looking around, there was nothing that could help her out. There was only the cloth covering for the row boats that she used as a blanket, a bucket, the spoiled mackerels wrapped in cloth, and the paddles for the rowing boat.

...I can't eat anything. I'm also very thirsty... She coughed with her dry mouth, the heat from the sun affecting her.

She grabbed the edges of the rowing boat with an arm, and then putting her weight to her feet, she hunched over and scooped some salt water with her hand and bringing it to her mouth. Salty... She coughed, spitting the salt water out.

Didn't Rudz say that I can make clean water by... peel...tuning it? Filtuning it. Grabbing the cloth that's wrapped around the mackerels, she soaks it in sea water to clean it up. And then, she grabs the bucket and puts the cloth over it as a filter. Then she scoops the sea water with the bucket.

Bringing the bucket to her dry lips, she takes a small sip. Salty! She coughed the salt water out. Why didn't it work...? She left the water bucket with the cloth in a corner and started to rethink her priorities.

I... don't know how to get water. If I can't get that I should at least get food... I think. If only I had a fishing pole...

Looking at the paddles and the cloth, a bright idea passes in her mind. Grabbing the blanket, she starts rubbing the blanket together against itself to weaken the fabric. But before she could accomplish anything, the scorching sun reminded her that she was too tired to do anything. The sun was sucking out her energy.

Her eyes starts watering again, full of frustration because of her failures and sadness. It finally sank in, she's all alone and on her own now.

She rubs her eyes with the blanket, it's not the time to cry right now...!

She started rubbing the blanket against itself again, until a hole finally formed. She ripped a small part of it and started twisting it, creating a weak but long rope. The sun... is... really... annoying...!

She grabbed the paddle, and planted it upright, setting the remains of the blanket on it creating a makeshift tent roof. I'm so thirsty... If only fillnation worked... She looked at the bucket, but the cloth rag that was soaking in water was wrapped with white crystals. Salt...? Oh! Rudz said that eva...purr...nation? Evapurnation created salt and cleaned the water! The hot sun must have evapurnated it.

She took out the rag and put the bucket to her lips again, and took a sip. Still salty... but not as salty as before. She thought to herself, gulping the water. She cried, finally succeeding in something. I can do this...! That's the only thing I can do!

Then, with the rope that she had created, she wrapped it in the other paddle. She grabbed the bucket again, and pulled at one of the nails keeping the metal tab in place. "Ouch!" She stabbed her finger with a rusty nail, but she managed to get the nail off the tab in the end. She filled the bucket with seawater again and put the rag in.

Then, she started to tie the other end of the rope attached to the paddle to the nail.

"Look! Mr. Didzi, I made my own fishing pole!" She looked around for the old fisherman waiting for a reply, but quieted down when she remembered her current situation with watery eyes. "Right..." She steeled her heart once again and wiped away the tears.

She then pinched a piece of the mackerel meat, and stuck it to the nail as bait. You can't cry... You should stay strong... You can do this... She wiped away the tears and threw her line to the watery depths approaching the twilight with a hungry stomach, no home, and no one to cry to. The girl steeled her resolve.