A Shipwreck ~ A Aphmau Ship-Based book!

Chapter 9

Zane's POV

By this time, it didn't take too long to find KC's prison. Zane had almost gotten used to the freezing water underfoot, and the near inability to see with how dark it was. Still, when Zane found her prison, he wanted to turn and keep walking.

So it seemed that every prison was different, which only made things worse. At least if they were the same, he knew what to expect. But Aaron's had been freezing cold and Aph's filled with blood. The only similarity was the random disembodied voice whispering doubts, and that was the one thing that Zane could've gladly done without.

Zane stared at the shifting, shadowy walls. There was something new in this prison, but this prison wasn't his. It was Kawaii~Chan's. She deserved this torture the least out of all the Emotions. She hadn't tried to hurt Gene. She had only wanted what was best for Jess. They were so young; how could they have known anything? And now...

Zane took a deep breath. Everything ached and his common sense was screaming at him to leave. But he'd gotten used to using a split second of courage to do something he really didn't want to do. It's for Jess, he repeated to himself. It was for him, and for Kawaii~Chan. He couldn't be a coward. He had to be brave, just like Aph said, even if he didn't feel like it. Zane finally pushed his way into the prison.

He promptly began falling.

His heart leapt into his throat as the floor gave way beneath him and he began to fall. It was dark and Zane couldn't see anything. He clamped his hands over his eyes as his chest thundered like a drumline. He was falling and he was going to hit the ground eventually and then he was going to die. Nana was probably already dead. Gene had thrown her into this prison and she fell and she died and Jess would never know right from wrong again and she wouldn't be able to be emotional and fear would take over and they all would be trapped in these boxes again without being able to escape and everything would end.

Except it didn't. Zane kept falling, for one minute, and then two. After a while, he realized that he wasn't going to end up hitting the bottom. Whatever this prison was, it definitely wasn't like the others. It just left them eternally falling.

Zane couldn't move much in this way. He could angle his body slightly to move around the prison, but he didn't make much progress. "Kawaii~Chan?" he called out. "KC are you there?"

He received no answer, except for the voices. These voices were different, Zane had realized. Whereas in the other prisons it was a random, unknown voice speaking, this prison had two voices. At least, Zane assumed they were two voices. They were Jess's voice—or rather, the Emotions' voice. They each had their own little tics that differentiated their voices. Nana's was chipper and upbeat all the time, Aaron's was usually monotone, Aph had a voice of grandiosity, and Zane's voice was dull and deeper. Zane heard his voice being played overhead, as well as a different voice that didn't fit into any of those categories—it must have been Gene's.

The voices were exchanging their own words, and they were deafening.

"How could you do this to us?" Gene's voice boomed.

"I wanted to be let out but you still made me stay," cried Zane's voice.

"Twenty years in darkness and you never visited."

"You hate me just like the others. You made me hate myself."

"You let him out but you left me. You did this to me."

Zane tried to hold his hands over his ears. The words weren't directed at him, but they still had an impossible impact on him. They were still demanding, judgmental, and filled to the brim with emotions. Gene was somehow able to create such a convincing replica of Zane's voice that even Zane was beginning to believe what he was hearing. Or maybe he had always thought those things, but just never spoke them aloud.

"Nana!" Zane yelled again. Then, quieter, barely audible underneath the booming voices, Zane heard something. It sounded like weeping. He looked around and finally spotted a flash of pink in the dark. Trying his best to aim his body in that direction, Zane managed to get closer and Kawaii~Chan came into view. Her face was buried in her hands, and her crying was louder now, echoing into wails that almost rivaled the volume of the voices. "KC!"

Zane got close enough and put his hands on Kawaii~Chan's shoulders. She jerked and looked up. Her eyes were bloodshot, her cheeks flushed, her nose snotty, and her face completely drenched in tears. It took Zane a moment to realize that Kawaii~Chan had put her ears away, and damaged them in the wind.

"Zane~Kun," KC whimpered. Her voice was absolutely broken, like it was something glass that had been shattered. Zane had never heard something so awful in his life. She choked on another sob and covered her face again. "Zane~Kun, Kawaii~Chan is so sorry! Kawaii~Chan is so so sorry!"

"Nana, please," Zane murmured. "It's okay."

"It's not though!" Nana cried. "It must have been awful! Kawaii~Chan should have stopped them from trying to trap Gene~Kun and Zane~Kun, but Kawaii~Chan didn't do anything. I just let it happen and that's not fair to you! It's not fair to Gene! I hurt the both of you so badly!" Another sob. It was rare that KC cried so honestly and with emotions running so deep, the same with talking in first person. She rarely did that unless she was overwhelmingly upset. Zane's own heart was aching. "I'm so sorry Zane...!"

Zane squeezed her shoulders. "Nana, it's okay. I don't hate you or the others for what happened. We were kids and we didn't know any better and you were just trying to protect Jess. I've moved past it. I've forgiven you."

KC looked up from her hands. She was still an absolute mess, but her sobs seemed to have quelled a little. "You don't have to forgive me, if—if you don't want to."

"I already have. We're getting better. I told you all my name. That's a big step from when we were little, right? And you already knew my name. I trusted you then and I trust you now...It's okay, Nana. You don't have to feel guilty about this anymore."

Nana sniffed and a couple more tiny cries left her, but she wiped off her face and nodded. "Okay...Okay. I'm sorry, I...Okay." She looked at Zane again and whispered, "Can I hug you?"

Zane nodded and she wrapped him up in the biggest, tightest hug Zane had ever experienced. There was even more emotion behind this one than the one Aph had given him. What is this feeling? They wondered as Zane returned the hug, trying to mirror some of the comforting gestures Nana had always used: running his hand through KC's hair, rubbing her back slightly, shushing her softly whenever another mewl left her.

By the time the hug was done, they had stopped falling. Zane hadn't realized when they had slowed their fall, or that their feet had touched the ground. When they finally broke away, Kawaii~Chan looked just as confused as Zane did.

"Let's get out of here," Zane said, tugging on Nana's hand. "This is just a prison, like the one you and the others made. But we can get out of these, because Gene didn't make them solid. Jess needs all of her Emotions—all of her good ones anyway—with her right now. Gene is making her really upset."

"Zane~Kun."

"What?"

"Thank you." Zane looked at Kawaii~Chan, who returned his look. "Kawaii~Chan knows this must have been hard, to come get her in one of these. And the others must have been in them too, right? So...thank you, Zane~Kun. You really helped us."

Zane didn't know what to say. All of the Emotions were being so strangely nice to him lately. It was nice, he supposed, but...It was still weird. He cleared his throat and glanced away. "Let's just... Let's get to Jess, okay?"