Ever After #7: Waves of Scales

Chapter 14.2: The Deep

Asceia picked up the vibrant and glowing memrae from Leyrosa’s mouth and shifted her attention to Fatima. “I need a container.”

Fatima quickly turned around and opened the glass closet where laboratory apparatuses were kept for safety. She opened it and took an Erlenmeyer flask with a plastic cover. Asceia peeled the memrae off of her hand and pushed the slimy and sticky organism inside the flask. Fatima instantly put the cover on and sealed it.

“Keep that memrae alive and separate it from the others.” She took a deep breath and looked at the body of Leyrosa.

“Asceia, I know she’s your friend...But we just got a solution to your problem. Her body is dying, we can use her vocal fluid to bring back your voice,” Fatima suggested after handing the flask to a scientist that offered to handle the memrae.

“What? No way...”

“She is the key.”

“What if this will not work? We are not of the same species.”

“All of the sercean vocal fluids are the same chemical makeup. The species only differed in anatomy,” Fatima explained. “It will work.”

“It is too easy for you to say. This is Leyrosa we are talking about. This is disrespectful to her body that is supposed to join the others in their grave.”

“As I said, this is all up to you. We can bury Leyrosa’s body or make use of her vocal fluid before letting it go to waste. Every day, Yrevia is getting stronger and she is spreading chaos across the planet. We can’t afford to waste more time. J...Just think of what Leyrosa would do if she is in your place.”

“Leyrosa would do the right thing.” She took a deep breath. She was deep in her thoughts weighing the right thing to do. Until she finally made a decision. “Okay fine...Let’s do this.”

Her approval put a smile on Fatima’s lips. She just watched her signal for the other experts in the room and they instantly started working on Leyrosa’s body.

“Asceia, the extraction process will take time. You can take a rest for a minute or two. I will call you when we are ready.”

She nodded. “Okay...I will talk to Troy first.”

••°°••

FOR THE FIRST time, Asceia saw the pain in Troy’s face. She was baffled to also feel his emotions, which was impossible since they were different species. She thought, maybe it was because they both lost someone close to their hearts: an ally and a friend. He was suffering. She knew right away he was broken, like a part of himself was gone after hearing the terrible news.

“I can’t believe she is gone...I haven’t even thanked her enough for saving us. She was my friend...”

“Me too. It is too soon for a sercean like her.” She stared at Troy who was currently at the window and looking outside. “We will avenge her death.”

“How? Yrevia is building an army and you still don’t have your voice.”

“I think I might have a chance at getting back my powers...”

Troy quickly turned around and looked at her. “Are you sure? How?”

“I lost my vocal fluid when the elders cut my throat open. According to Fatima, starting that day, my body didn’t make any vocal fluids again. They believed that transferring Leyrosa’s vocal fluid to mine might give me a shot at accessing the Voice of the Ocean and the Song.”

“That...That is good to hear.” Troy just nodded and smiled. But he can’t maintain eye contact.

“I’m so sorry, Troy. I know she was your friend. She’s the reason why you joined me and started all of this.” She felt how heavy this was to him, news that was so hard to digest.

“I just feel bad that I was not there when she needed help. Everything happened so quickly that I can’t even believe this is happening.”

“Don’t beat yourself up. She is a warrior. She fought for her life. We are not supposed to know where she was. The only thing we can do is to avenge her and take care of her memories,” she said and took a deep breath.

“I wish she had more time,” Troy uttered.

“Me too. I hoped for her to see the end of this war.”

Three knocks from behind interrupted them. They shifted their eyes to the room’s door that suddenly opened where a guard that was holding a radio came in looking at her. “Fatima called, she said you are needed back in the lab,” he said and left the door open.

“Is it about the procedure?” Troy asked.

She nodded. “Do you want to come?”

Troy heaved a sigh. “Is it okay if I stay here? I...I just want to be alone for a minute.”

“Yeah...sure. It’s fine.”

Asceia didn’t look back and closed the door behind her. She headed to the elevator where a guard escorted her down to the laboratory. Reaching the underground facility, she quickly went to the room where Fatima and the other doctors and scientists were waiting. As she stepped in, she was surrounded by humans wearing scrubs and surgical gowns, with masks and gloves. On the other hand, she failed to find Leyrosa’s body. It was nowhere in sight.

“She is in the cold storage to keep her body from rotting,” Fatima said after reading her gestures. “Will you please take off your clothes and wear this?” One of them handed her a thin piece of folded cloth.

She removed all of her clothing and wore the hospital gown. She didn’t telepathically say any words and climbed to the table or platform, she sat on its side and then lay on her back. Staring at the white ceiling, she just waited for what was about to happen next.

“Is it okay if we are going to sedate you? The procedure could be painful and will take time,” a doctor asked.

And she nodded. “Okay.”