A Twisted H2O

Just Add Water

"Azul, you've been here for 24 hours. Yuu isn't waking up anytime soon," Jade says, tapping my head on Yuu's lap.

It had been a day since the lunar eclipse, and Yuu hadn't woken up yet. The medics explained that her body took more damage in comparison to her friends due to not being accustomed to magic. No one knew when she was going to wake up. Fortunately, I had all the time in the world, considering the damage to RSA and the town. Night Raven is a shelter until the humanitarian volunteers can build a hotel for the displaced.

"She'll be ok. The doctors will figure out something. Besides, the students at Octavinelle want their dorm leader back," Jade adds, putting my hat on my head. "If you're worried about Yuu's secret, then there's no need to worry. No one knows besides Me and you, Floyd, Idia, and Ortho. Not even the Epics or the teachers who helped us know."

"That's good. How's everyone else?" I ask, trying to get the topic off of Yuu.

"Well, they're still acting like a bunch of dumbasses since they heard Yuu's siren song. They're not as bad as the RSA students, but they're still annoying. You should've heard how Lilia was ranting about the Diasomnia members. Malleus heard Yuu's song that got broadcasted on Cater's account, and he somehow figured out a way to make the whole dorm listen to it. Luckily, Lilia is so old that he's immune to it. He had to lock everyone inside and prevent them from escaping. Meanwhile, Idia did his stuff and got Yuu's song on the internet for an hour before Ortho deleted it."

"I'll come back and tell Yuu how my day went. I wanna see Yuu's friends."

I get up, squeezing Yuu's right hand to say goodbye, and leave the nurse's office. The morning sun stings my irritated eyes, and I see the full scope of the damage caused by Yuu and her friends. The sky is still red, and most of the town's buildings are charred. Most boats from the port are gone, and half of RSA's school is gone.

They really did a number on the town, huh?

"Hi, my name is Emmeline. These are my friends Riri and Cleora. We wanted to see Yuu's friends from school, but most of them are out of it at the moment. You're Azul, right? The leader of the mermaid mummies at the alchemy lab?" She asks, looking around nervously.

"Yeah, that's me. Nice to meet you," I respond, sitting on a chair in the hallway.

"Has Yuu mentioned us?" Riri asks, stepping out from behind Emmeline.

"I've never heard Yuu mention any of you. Though I guess I know why Yuu was out a lot," I say, imagining Yuu's life outside school.

"Oh...well then. We've heard lots of things about Yuu's friends here," Cleora awkwardly says, looking around. "They're all good things, though!"

Riri smacks Cleora on the arm and gives her a glare. 

"It was good seeing you. We'll be at the shelters if you need us," Emmeline states, walking down the hallway.

"Yeah, I'll see you around," I say, waving goodbye to the three girls.

~~~~~~~~~

The rest of the day was stagnant. School is out due to everything going on, and the rest of the students are now just snapping out of their siren-dazed state. I go to the Monstro Lounge and turn on the lights.

~~~~~~~~~

Yuu's been in a coma for two days, and I've taken the responsibility of making sure she doesn't get muscle atrophy. I've combed and washed her hair, I've even brushed her teeth. Everyone's been volunteering to help out the town and RSA rebuild. The Arcane started an investigation with no conclusive results yet.

~~~~~~~~~

It's been a week and Yuu still hasn't woken up. She's starting to smell, so I had to cast a spell to wash her and give her new clothes. I haven't seen Jade and Floyd in a while.

~~~~~~~~~

It's been a week and a half, and everyone came in to give their condolences to me as if Yuu was dead. She's not dead, she's still breathing! How can they not see that?! I got angry and walked out.

~~~~~~~~~~

I've been spending the last two weeks with Yuu, talking to her, keeping her clean, reading to her, and all the usual things. My dorm uniform began to become a bit too big, I guess I should've eaten more. Everyone looks at me like I'm the walking dead.

~~~~~~~~~~

"Azul, we're worried about you! You haven't eaten in days, your clothes are shrinking, your teeth are beginning to turn yellow, and most importantly, you're starting to smell!" Jade vents, circling around me.

"It's fine, I'll take a shower later," I say, giving Yuu and mani-pedi.

"It's not fine! You haven't left this place in weeks! You're taking care of Yuu more than yourself! You being with Yuu in the state you are in is unhealthy!" Jade yells, getting angrier as I ignore him. "You know what, I didn't want to do this to you, but I'm forced to do this for your own well-being."

Floyd enters the room and squeezes me like he does the debtors from the Monstro Lounge. My vision goes dark.

~~~~~~~~

I've been in my room for who knows how long. My eyes are red and tired from crying for so long. Light hasn't entered my room in-well....I don't know. My nose has gotten used to the odor from my body.

~~~~~~~~

"Dorm leader Azul has been in his room for two weeks. Maybe we should let him visit Yuu at least once?" A random voice suggests, turning on the lights in my room.

Yes, please let me see her.

"As much as I don't like it, you have a point," Jade replies.

"Yeah, I don't like seeing Azul in this pathetic state," Floyd adds.

The lights turn off and I remain in bed till the moonlight begins to shine on me. I don't know why, but I decide to go see Yuu now when no one else is awake. I creep through the hallways and open the door to the clinic. I walk to Yuu's bed and find her in better condition than when I was taking care of her.

At least someone was taking care of her. Makes me wish someone could take care of me like that.

"I miss you, so much," I whisper into the crook of her neck. "It's been so long, what's the holdup? Is there something you're waiting for? Have you been cursed like Sleeping Beauty? What is it that's keeping you from waking up!"

I burst into tears and sob until my tears become uncontrollable. I lift my head and look at Yuu with my blurry vision. Her face remains unmoving as my tears fall down to her cheeks. The moonlight from outside creeps inside and shines on both of us.

Damn you, moon in the sky! Had you not had the power and control you do, she'd still be running around campus as an ordinary girl! She wouldn't need to avoid touching water in public for the rest of her life! Yuu would be perfectly fine! Everything would've been fine had you just been normal! The town wouldn't have been destroyed, our school wouldn't be overcrowded, and the RSA students would be at their own school and not here!

"Why me?!" I sob, crashing onto Yuu's pillow.

Yuu's body becomes covered in water, and she transforms into a mermaid. Her tail sways and the bed cover shift.

"This is certainly not the way I expected to wake up," Yuu says in her raspy voice.

"You're awake! Like you're actually awake! You're not a part of my tear-exhausted dreams!" I exclaim, getting up and hugging Yuu.

"I'm awake and in the flesh...technically scales," Yuu says, wiping my tears away. "I heard everything you said when you took care of me. I appreciate you doing that, but you should've taken care of yourself as well."

"I guess I should have. But we'll have all the time in Twisted Wonderland for that," I whisper, kissing my lips just as the moonlight moves away from the window.