Aquata Cove Ch. 25

"Anyone... Please..." He sobbed, "Not again... Waiting on endless time... I'm all alone now... So... Alone..." Shimmering white tears kept pouring from his eyes as he jerked and sobbed.

"Rarrrrr." Merrick gasped as he looked up, and saw the orange cat looking at him from a windowsill. The feline looked at the blonde curiously.

"... Ro... Roxas?"

"Purrrraarr?" The cat mewled as it let itself down, and trotted over to the merman. Merrick sniffled and whimpered as the soft feline came to him. It sniffed at his hand, before nuzzling it as he gently stroked along it. Merrick moved himself to sit up, and Roxas stepped onto his naked lap, curling up and tilting his head back as those fingers scratched along his head.

"... My pod..." Merrick said, "I've lost them... I've lost... Everything..." He said, with pearly white tears dropping from his eyes. Merrick spoke in the purring-like sound he did the night before he left. Roxas continued to purr as he lay down onto Merrick's legs.

~~~

Merrick lay there on the porch. Just like before, he is waiting on endless time, waiting for anyone to come home. Roxas stayed with him for the majority of the time, keeping him company as they both waited. Merrick is half asleep, half awake at this time, feeling more dead than alive. He still cannot believe his worst nightmare has come to pass -- exiled from his pod...

Vvvvvrrrrrmmmbmbmbmbmmm

He heard the distant, obnoxious rumbling. Roxas perked his ears as he looked up, moved up, and got up. The cat jumped up into Yuri's window, and entered the household. He heard a pleasantly familiar voice. Seconds later, he heard a click, and the glass door raced open "Oh my God!" Adam stepped out and knelt down, "Merrick?! What're you doing here?!"

Merrick looked up at his human, his lower lip trembling as he looked into Adam's handsome, concerned face, "Sweetie, what's wrong? Aren't you supposed to be gone by now? What happened, and where's your shells? What happened to your shark teeth?" The merman whined and sobbed as he moved up, and threw his arms around Adam. Merrick cried out, sobbing uncontrollably as he buried his face into Adam's shirt.

"Babe, what's the matter?!"

"M-My pod! ... Th-They..." Merrick tried to speak, but he couldn't get in a straight sentence without the hysterical weeping.

"A-Alright, it's ok, sweetheart, it's alright," Adam said calmly, holding the back of Merrick's blonde hair, and rubbing his back up and down as the merman wept continuously, "Here, lets come inside, alright?" Adam gently tucked his arm under Merrick's knees and picked him up, turning and carrying him into the house. Roxas meowed as he followed in, before Adam closed the door.

===

Merrick tried to suppress any more tears as the thoughts of what has transpired haunted his heart. The fact that Brishen will never hunt with him again... The look of utter disappoint on his father's face... The way his mother bid him a loving goodbye... The sound of Savarna's screams of sorrow as she was taken away from her beloved playmate...

"Hi, Merrick..." Came a soft voice. Merrick tried to stop crying at once, and looked behind. There is Yuri with a pair of light blue popsicles. She slowly approached him, and offered him one. The merman sniffled as he accepted it, and she sat right beside him.

"Thank you, Yuri..." Merrick said as he took it, turning it over, and looking at it curiously, "... What is it?"

"It's ice cream," She said, "It's from a video game I like to play."

"I... I've tried ice cream at the pier, this doesn't look anything like it..."

"Heh, I know, that's what I first thought too. It's more like an ice cream bar," She said as she nibbled at the top of her treat, "Try it," Yuri said before she licked her popsicle.

Merrick hesitated before he licked his blue bar. The very taste of it made him want to cry all over again.

"... It tastes so much like the ocean..." He mumbled. Yuri chuckled at that.

"Yeah, it's called Sea Salt Ice Cream." She said as she slurped it, "It's an exclusive flavor though; it had to be imported all the way from Japan." Merrick starred at his ice cream. The flavor is so sweet, and it's so nostalgic of where he was born. He took another lick. Again, a refreshing rush of cold and sweetness. He took another lick. It feels and tastes great after being out in the sun all day, looking over the sea. He took another lick. Sea and sweet, just like a few loved ones he will never see again. He took a bite. The taste is so nice and painful at the same time.

He rose the ice cream bar to take another bite, but he stopped. He closed his mouth as he slowly lowered it back down. His eyes twinkled again as he slowly hunched over.

"... Adam told me what happened to your pod..." Yuri said, looking at Merrick seeing a tear peek from his eye, and slipped along his cheek, "I'm sorry... It must have been a terrible attack..." Yuri looked as Merrick's popsicle dripped in the heat, "I can't imagine having to fight a two-tailed mermaid that ambushed my family..." Yuri looked to him, and put her hand on his back, as his shoulders shook.

Yuri sighed as the Sea Salt bar slipped from Merrick's fingers, and dropped into the ocean, stick and all. "You know that we're here for you, right?" She asked softly as she rubbed his back.

"... Stop..." Merrick said, his voice thick and shaky, "Please don't touch me..."

Yuri blinked, and removed her hand from him, "Sorry, I was just trying to-"

"It's not your fault... I don't deserve your kindness..." Merrick sobbed, covering his eyes as he cried.

"... Look, Merrick. It's not your fault that you ran away. Anybody would be scared." Yuri said, trying to find the right words to console him.

"Lies..."

"What?" Yuri asked, not knowing whether or not to feel offended.

"Lies..." Merrick repeated, "That is all I truly am... Lies, lies, LIES!" Merrick said as his body tensed.

"Wh-What are you talking about?!" Yuri asked, a little taken aback by this sudden outburst.

"For 5 years... I have lied to my pod for 5 years... I have lied to my Father... I have lied to my Mother - my MOTHER!" He said, "She is the Noita of the pod, she should have seen right through me... And I have fooled her for so long..." He sobbed, "The fact that I as so good at deception... What AM I? ... Even to my love..." Merrick moaned as he looked at his hands.

"Even to my mate... Adam... And he believed me... Like everyone else, he believed every word that I said... And he told you my lie..." Yuri blinked her eyes in surprise at the distraught merman.

"... Merrick?"

"I lied, Yuri..." Merrick whimpered, "I lied, I always lie..." It is all he can do without breaking down completely, "Because the truth is so painful... Just thinking about it is enough to rip me apart..." He said, with a little rasp in his voice, "It has always been agony to hide all this time, but I had no choice... I tell this to myself over and over again, but it never gets easier..." He quivered lightly as he spoke, "My pod was so precious to me, I had no other choice... And now I have lied to the man I love..." Merrick cried.

"Hey- Merrick!" Yuri said as she stared at him, "Merrick... What happened?" She asked. She knew it's probably impolite to ask him at this time, "What are you lying about...?" Merrick dug his fingers into his hair as he cried. Her dark eyes furrowed, before widening, "Ohhhh... I see...

"Your pod wasn't ambushed... Was it?" Merrick gasped and shuddered, looking at her, and back down, shaking his head, "Merrick? Look... You don't have to tell me if you don't want to..." Merrick sniffled and looked straight into the sea.

"Yuri... Please promise me you won't tell Adam... Not yet..."