"...Darkness"

Watching the small girl play around like this with his big scarf… it seemed almost nostalgic somehow. Perhaps because he had spent so much of his life near other small people, but nonetheless, it gave him a warm, pleasant feeling.

He watched her for one more brief moment before taking a step in the other direction, pulling his coat tighter around himself.

“I’m going inside to warm up… Please, try not to spend too much time out here, whatever it is you’re doing.”

“Okay.”

Stella stares at the octopus for a couple of seconds before he started to walk away, Her hand slowly going up, fingers uncurling in a open palm before giving the most hesitant, shyest wave anyone could have seen, not minding that Fukami wasn’t looking at her direction anymore.

“...B...Bye...”

Her arm slowly started to feel numb, going from her should down till the little stump where her hand should be attached. 

Good thing she always used her left hand more than the other...

“...T-Thank you.”

With her right arm completly numb, the child just slowly moves from the bed and walks around the room, waiting for Sal to come back or either for her hand to show signs of growing back, whichever happened first.

[     Stella…? Was that the child’s name? She seemed so lost and…miserable, pale and scared, somewhat that is. But it couldn’t compare to the expression Creamil held, she was visibly shaking and there was fear in her eyes; however the addition to her words, caused the Yeti Crab to take a step back. If she stood still any longer…the water would suffocate her, she could feel the weight of it like lead on her back. Creamil knew what to say but- she was too scared to speak, all she wanted was this to be a nightmare. So that when she woke up, everything was it’s beautiful cerulean blue…her friends were safe, that everything would be okay.     ]

    { 🐟 } — “I-…’m sorry, I just-”

[     As if on cue, a slimy slippery object curled around her leg and in which enticed a scream to erupt from Creamil, panicking and kicking the undead and putrid thing off her, all of this was beckoning heavy floods of stress and fear onto her. Causing her to let out a weep, she just wanted to find everyone…and the fear that they might be d e a d was something she didn’t want to have constantly lurking in her mind.     ]

A small yell escaped her throat as one of the creatures from the Sea of Death coiled around the Yeti Crab’s leg, silently hoping that the creature would take care of the situation for her. However, there was no such luck for her.

More tears fell down her cheeks, breath quickening at hearing the angry, desperate voice of the other. Stella gave a shocked gasp, taking once again another step back as she tried to think on anything to say, anything to do.

“You...The b-blue sea...a-ah...”

It wasn’t her war; It was princess Mikotsu’s. She didn’t know the motive, not the exact one, there was no answer she could give... 

But she understood, At least, understood a fracction of it. It was bitter, and miserable, all because...

“...The blue kept us trapped there...” She mumbled, tears still coming, yet her voice had an odd edge to it, almost as if trying to appear intimidating, though it came just... raspy, unnerving at much. “L-Living happily, letting us...there...! No second-- second thought, y-you p-people left us a-all t-to rot th-there after...after...!!”

Another sob, Stella covers her mouth with her hands, her red eyes staring at Creamil as she cried, not finding it in herself to feel bad for the other, too busy with her own tears.

They would be trapped in that poisonous water, just like Stella and the others were at first. Was that Princess Mikotsu’s plan...?

“We’re all... all going to... be trapped...”