Chapter 6
       The Blood Sea

The bomb had gone off just after 10pm, sent soaring through the sea from a submarine right into the shining city. England had only just developed places to live underwater, much to the stress of the many scientists and builders on the job. It had been their shining hope; their idea of survival and it had come crashing down in an instant.

News had spread immediately, rejoicing on one side and deep remembrance and sorrow on another. Radios had gone crazy; families had mourned and the project had been terminated immediately.

On that day, I’d been in my home. Mourning for those who’d died. It hadn’t even mattered then if we were on the same side or not people had died. Thousands of people had died. My friends, or rather the other people who were still alive with me, hadn’t been so sad. Some had even said that England had had it coming.

I thought otherwise. None of us deserved this. None of us needed this. Some of us didn’t even have a choice and were born into it. A hell of a lot of us didn’t even remember the sun anymore. It had long ago been hidden behind the black clouds of exploding bombs and fires.

I let the tears fall, I let them splatted on my clothes and tried to unclench my hands from the fists they’d formed at my side, occasionally coming up to rub at my eyes desperately. 

They said that those who’d escaped the bomb and shrapnel had drowned to death in the blood of their friends.

They said that the remains had become the food of sharks and none of the bodies could or would be recovered.

They said the sea had been stained in deep red – the colour of blood.

That’s why they’d called that day, July 28^th of 2166, The Bloody Sea.

-

I woke up before the suns were in the sky. My nightmares kept changing kept shifting and swirling in and out of focus. One moment I was me, number 590-29 and I was experiencing a new memory the next I was someone else who looked like me, thought like me but had different memories than me. If anything those dreams scared me more.

I let myself sit up, blinking the sleep away from my eyes. Woohyun’s skivvy hadn’t stayed on my shoulder, somewhere in the night it had fallen down and my hair had fallen out of the pony I’d put it in earlier. I probably looked like a wreck. I covered up the yawn my body decided took priority over breathing with my hands and managed to stretch out half my back. I cast a glance to the body next to me. When he’d first fallen to sleep he’d happily hogged the blankets and remained on his side of the bed, or what we’d recently labeled his side. By morning the blanket was shoved halfway down his body and he’d rolled over into the middle of the bed.

I watched as my hand reached out and gently brushed the hair that hung over his eyes out of his face. It was only the slightest of touches, as if I was scared he’d wake up but of course he didn’t. Simply slept on, his even breathes creating a beautiful melody through the room.

Slowly I slipped my feet out of the bed, careful not to wake Woohyun as I shifted my weight, little by little, out of bed. I breathed a sigh of relief when I managed to get out of the bed without seemingly waking Woohyun up.

Or so I thought.

‘Why are you up so early?’ a sleepy voice asked me. I turned around slowly to meet the half shut eyes of Woohyun as he watched me from the bed. His head was still on his pillow, surrounded by the messy hair that had decided to stick out any which way it pleased. His hand lifted up to rub the sleep from his eyes before indicating to come back to the bed.

I sat precariously at the edge of the bed and stared at my fingers, ‘No reason.’

I could feel his eyes staring into my back. ‘Did you have another nightmare?’

How he knew I’d been having nightmares I didn’t know. Oddly enough it was really peaceful to realize that someone knew without me having to tell them. It made me feel that I wasn’t as alone. So I nodded in answer to his question. Just because he knew I had nightmares didn’t mean I was going to explain the depth of them and the fear they left me in.

Shuffling echoed from behind me and the next thing I knew his body pulling me back into his chest.

‘Next time wake me up, don’t face them alone.’ The tone in his voice made me want to ask if he knew the state nightmares could put you in. Something about the way he said it made me certain he’d experienced them as well.

‘Can I ask a question?’

‘Always.’

I maneuvered my body around so I was sitting next to him on the bed. In search of something to do other than look at him I took his hand in mine, resting it on my palm. My finger drew inanimate objects aimlessly on the back of his hand.

‘Why’s it called the ‘Blood Sea?’’ I whispered. I didn’t meet his eyes, simply played with the long calloused fingers in my palm. Maybe if I’d been looking I would have noticed how much his face tightened at that question but I missed those emotions.

‘It’s just what the elders told us it was called because of it’s color. We never wrote the history books, they did.’

Nerves tried to steal my words from me, ‘What if they were wrong?’

His eyes rose to mine the same instant I looked up at him. Behind the carefully concealed layers of control and thought was something else. I was sure there was something else floating in his eyes. Understanding. For some reason the thought that he understood what I was hinting at scared me more than if he’d yelled at me and called me a fool.

‘Then everything we know, wouldn’t it all be fiction as well?’

The truth behind his words scared me so I didn’t respond instead I gave him a fake smile and said I was going for a walk. I still wanted to explore the area.

‘Be careful,’ was all he said.

I’d never really seen Garlean before. Not completely. One thing that really struck me was how clean it was. The entire place was virtually spotless of any litter the only thing that covered the ground was fallen leaves and flowers. The path was made up of unequal silver-white tiles.

The trees bended over the pathway, leaving the ground splattered in shadows with only sparkles on sunshine shimmering through. Pot plants lay in front of different houses, covered with plants I’d never seen in my life from the plumpest purple to the deepest sea blue.

My feet wandered, without any destination. They simply went where they wanted while my brain switched off.

Bloody Sea. What exactly was that, was it simply another messed up fairytale my mind made up, was it a nightmare or was it a memory? How many had died, if it was true? Why had they even been creating living areas underwater?

My mind was fuzzy, almost as if someone had shoved a veil over my head and blocked my eyes from the outside world. Everything was fuzzy and nothing really mattered anymore. I briefly realized I was walking down hill and the suns had been obscured by large trees but it hadn’t mattered.

I don’t know how I ended up down there, I don’t know why my feet took me there to begin with but I was standing in front of the red sea, staring into nothingness.Was it real? Was that dream, or memory, actually fact or just another load of fiction my brain was making up? Did people really die like that? Choking on the blood of their family members? I couldn’t imagine a worse way to go.

I let my feet sink into the sand, Woohyun had since told me that it wasn’t called ‘bloody sand,’ but that ‘bloody’ was simply slang that basically insulted the sand. I couldn’t help but think it was an utterly useless word. What was insulting sand going to do?

Tears built in my eyes, causing me to blink in desperation to try and hold them back but it was all for vain. A tight knot formed in my throat and then I was chocking, gasping on the tears that were crying for release. My knees gave way under me and I ended up kneeling in the sand, screaming in emotional pain. Sand built under my fingernails as I grabbed the earth, threw it away from me in anger. No one needed to die like that.

I don’t know how long I stood there crying as the Blood Sea lapped closer to my legs. I don’t know why a dream was affecting me so much but eventually the tears dried. I wonder if my mind was simply playing games on me. It was too big a coincidence that my dream had a day called the Bloody Sea and now before me stood the ‘Blood sea.’

‘Yea,’ I whispered, trying to reassure myself with lies, ‘It’s just my mind tricking me. It’s nothing.’

I shook my head, clearing my head from the buzzing that was echoing around and pushed myself to my feet. With determined steps I started to make my way home.

That’s when I noticed her.

She was standing alone, a sole figure on the beach as she stared out at nothing. Shadows covered half her face and the trees that led the way up to the main village in Garlean slopped up behind her. Her hands dangled by her sides aimlessly, her shoes lay meters behind her. The long unruly red hair that suited her so well lay in tangles around her face.

Wordlessly I moved towards her, each step dragging at my heart. The more clearly I saw her face the more certain I was that the expression was the same lost and confused one I’d seen in the mirror.

I didn’t say a word when my feet found themselves next to her. I didn’t look at her but instead turned my body to face the Blood Sea along with her. Eventually her sigh fluttered through the wind, ‘How’d you find me?’

We didn’t meet eyes, didn’t even turn to acknowledge each others existence other than the spoken words between us. ‘I wasn’t looking,’ I replied.

From the corner of my eye I saw her face twist into a wry smile, ‘I’m surprised Myungsoo isn’t here yet.’

Memories fluttered in my memory; Myungsoo’s protectiveness, those dark eyes.

‘Is he always like that? Happy, I mean.’ I was digging for clues, only because I hadn’t been able to get those eyes out of my mind for the whole day. Or my dream.

‘No ones always happy.’ Faye replied with an almost bitter twist to her words, as if venom was lining them in the most secretive way.

‘I guess you’re right.’

Silence fell but not a peaceful one. The Blood Sea suddenly looked a lot more venomous and evil than I’d ever seen it before. The deep red seemed to be trying to me into its depths and my brain screamed at me to run but I stood firm. There was no way I was about to leave Faye. Something was wrong and though I didn’t know what I was going to stay beside her and leave with her.

The sky had grown a lot darker between then and the next time we talked.

‘Somehow I always end up down here,’ Faye’s eyes were fixated on the sea’s horizon, just where the softest sky touched the darkest sea, ‘I can’t explain it. It’s like I lost something really precious to me.’

I didn’t say anything, just watched as silent tears fell down Faye’s face. I couldn’t tell her about my dream or even try and comfort her. I felt useless, just the same as I always had.

‘Have you found your name yet?’ Faye suddenly whispered. I wasn’t sure what she meant by ‘found,’ but I let that hid behind the surface. Right now it didn’t matter. Again I let the first name that came to my mind escape.

‘Neaveh.’

I briefly wondered why if felt so comfortable to utter that name when Faye’s face broke into a soft smile and her hand slipped into mine, squeezing gently as if to reassure me everything would be ok, ‘It’s a pretty name.’

I thought so too. 

Onebrightstar; x
Because of your comment I went on a big story planning spree (which I really needed to do anyway) and sorted out some little facts that have actually changed a lot of things around and made it a bit easier to see how to reach the climatic points. I actually found this story line in a dream so it was pretty twisted to begin with haha. I've found my Faye ^^ Finally~! I'm excited haha. About Myungsoo and Faye - Bingo haha. I'm so glad, I normally struggle describing things

Dongwoo was gorgeous in that teaser photo despite the cow print pants haha O.o Oh gosh I'm so excited!!!! Aww thanks, I'm more thankful that I have someone showing interest in my story. It makes it such a joy to write. :D