nihilism.

oculus uterque of arcane.

the dubiety in the thief's eyes is apparent. i call this perpetrator, this marauder by the title of thief because he has disturbed my rest. he has taken me out my saxe, cerulean realm in a way where i was not deciduous of the circumstances.

my palpebra open wide, unpigmented irises greeting a burgundy, watered down shade of crimson i quickly heighten to grow an obituary detest for. i observe apparent horror flash through the ruddy hues, and suddenly those blistered palms shove me to the ground, a yard or two away now.

i can't make out what he utters to me. i can't make out a single syllable. all i can hear is the white noise; which became second nature to me during my time of submergement. call it phantom sound, if you may. that undeniable fact, and also the realization that my eardrums melted away before anything else in the first minutes of my underseas stay.

my amphibian traits, taken from that demonic, screwed existence have remained at bay for a while. being subaqueous has caused it to take a halt. however, my wounds begin to heal, process much slower than the likes of that man. that apex predator. that plague. now that i am once more a land dweller, things take their original pace.

i wish they didn't.

the foreign cells know what to target first. the areas shredded to bone, the lacerations traveling across my nape, and the fissured layers of pigment.

the buildup of cirripedia, coronulidae, and pedunculata-different types of barnacles simply slide off, my body-or what used to be mine-neutralizing it in a matter of minutes. the algae and such, burrowed deep into my cuticles and nail beds are rejected.

i am not done. i feel that sensation; the recognition that i am about to expel the contents inside me.

i'm not moving by my own will, it's the nonnative power within me rejuvenating.

more than just bile resurfaces from the pit of my stomach. its organisms, plants, coral, everything that has started to call my body its home. i retch out an ecosystem. i have hosted life, and also been the cause of its demise. a powerhouse in the worst way possible.

my freedom of choice has come back, premature and before i aspired it to. i don't know what to do with this power, an ability many take for granted as it has been with them from the start.

oculus uterque skim over the boy-my saviour, of sorts-in all his mortified glory. arcane, a feeling never felt before in my inhuman years meets me like an old companion. as the cells mend my hearing capabilities and reject all the water nestled deep within, i begin to hear him. i hear the voice, full of naivete yet also full of ferocity i don't think i could ever match in this life.

his lips are dry. there's a sick form of reminiscing in his expression and tone. something he doesn't wish to believe. he is scared. scared of what's in front of him. he wonders if it's real or not.

"...nezuko?"

.