Forever Lost

Chapter Thirty: I Have No Regrets

[Melody]-

Soft mummers whisper within my mind. A soft, relaxed smile rests on my expression. A small burst of adrenaline runs through me at his touch, and my eyes flutter open.

"Hey," he smiles down at me.

"Hey you," I smile sweetly.

He kisses me gently, but pulls away to add, "Look, I'm sorry."

I don't say anything at first, just stare into his magnificent eyes. They shine with guilt, dancing in silent sorrow. I sigh. "For what?"

"I almost completely went under and I-"

I press myself into hi, pulling away quickly. "Almost, and besides, even if you went completely under, I would have been fine."

"You sure?"

"Yes," I smile. "I have no regrets.

He smiles in response.

We're silent for a while. "We should probably get dressed."

"Yeah, that's be -- yeah," I crawl out from under the covers, keeping a sheet held around me like a towel.

~

Chris and I walk hand in hand through the trees.

We're silent at first, but as we approach the clearing, I remember something.

"Remember how you said non of the Guardians know what happened to the pod?"

He sighs as we enter the clearing. "Do you really want to know?"

"Yes! Tell me!"

He smiles, kicking off his shoes. I do the same, joining him at the edge of the water.

"You really want to know?"

"Yes! Tell me!" I whine

He smiles, kicking his feet in the water. "Fine," his smile drops, sighing. "Someone broke into your pod."

"Yeah, I know that part."

He nods. "Sorry,"

"It's fine," I take his hand. "Go on,"

He stops kicking his feet. "The first thing they did was climb underneath your pod and used some sort of magic to destroy the power gem from the inside out."

"That's -- odd," I muse.

"It gets worse. The power gem not only is the pods engine, it also-"

"Provides the pod electricity. I know. I remember the black out."

"It does more than just that Melody." I look up at him. His gaze remains on the still water. He's silent for a while, but when he speaks, his voice his quiet, soft, like a whisper. "The power gem supplies us air." my eyes widen in alarm, still he does not look up. "Without the power gem, us humans suffocate."

"Don't the Kurmanians need oxygen to breathe too?"

"No, but without the power gem, their power becomes ultimately weakened and they can no longer switch between forms."

"Oh right! Human, animal, meld, shift!"

He nods. "So Stealth was stuck in her human form. Normally, she's go into shift, but she couldn't. Her first thought was to repair the gem, leaving you alone."

"Wait, how do you know all of this?"

It's then he looked up at me. "Stealth told me what she did, Renee filled me in on the rest."