"Drowned, you said...?"
Myra looked downwards as Rei nodded.
"This has to be related to my dream... Somehow.. Some way..." She thought to herself as she looked back up at him.
"And... How come I could see them.. When others couldn't...?" she recalled the old man that she ran past, who didn't see the monsters, when she clearly did.
"Yes, I was right about to mention that, good work kid, 10 points to you." Rei grinned as he leaned forward. Invading her personal space, his face was inches away from hers.
"Tell me, kid. Did you dream of anything strange while you were out?" His tone grew serious.
Myra nodded slowly as she backed up a little, feeling uncomfortable. "Y-.. Yes... Yes I did... I was in a deep ocean... Deep underwater.. But for some reason.. I could breathe.."
"I see..." His grin widened. "That means you've been picked by one." He leaned back. Giving her more freedom to breathe.
"One... W-.. What do you mean...?" Myra asked in confusion and fear. She knew that dream wasn't just a dream...
"An Ocean. You've been picked by an ocean." He went away from the bed and sat on a nearby chair, where Hibiki was earlier sitting. He looked up at the "M" shape on the ceiling.
"An... Ocean...?" Myra thought she finally went insane, or that guy himself is insane and is gaslighting her.
"Indeed. I know you saw something else. I know you saw something falling into that ocean you were in from the sky." He looked her dead in the eyes.
Myra's eyes widened in shock at his words. That proves that none of them is insane, if he knows what happened in her dream without mentioning it.
"What..? How did you know...?" She asked in fear as she tried to get up, to run away, but she was still too tired to be able to move her legs.
"I had a similar dream, too. The Angel of Mercy did as well. Almost everyone in the Mariana had a similar dream, except they saw something different, not exactly what you saw."
So... Whatever this is.. It's a large phenomenon that happens to a lot of people.. Is that what he's going at?
"W-.. What do you mean...?" Myra asked him to elaborate. Still finding difficulties in wrapping her head around this.
"We all had strange dreams before, dreams that awakened something inside of us. They're not really dreams. It's the Ocean's way of contacting us for the first time."
Rei got up and walked around the bed back and forth as he explained.
"Whatever you saw in that ocean. You cannot tell anyone about it. Not me. Not the angel. Not anyone. Keep completely silent about it. Until it fully manifests. You'll know when that happens."
"I wasn't planning to either way.." She muttered as she looked down at her hands. But she still doesn't understand.
"What exactly do you mean.. By an 'Ocean'...?"
Rei stopped. Before continuing his cyclical movement. "Oceans... Are divine concepts. An essence of true power."
He approached and rested his palms on the footboard on the bed. "A person with an ocean... Controls all that ocean resembles."
"The word 'Ocean' here doesn't exactly mean 'Tons of water'. This ain't kindergarten." He chuckled. "It means... A field of an endless concept.
"For example... An Ocean of Glass, perhaps. It's an Ocean that allows its owner to control anything related to glass. Make weapons, Reflect attacks from the Drowned, Block projectiles, and some much deeper abilities, depending on the person's understanding of their ocean."
He took one last bite of the chocolate bar before crumpling the wrapper and tossing it perfectly into a nearby litter bin.
"Or an Ocean of Love, of course. It allows its owner to control someone's love towards anything. Control their impulses, control their goal, control their desires." His grin widened into a wicked smile that goes ear-to-ear.
Myra remained silent as she listened to his explanation. Her disbelief. growing with each word.
"As you can tell by what I said, It's not only limited to physical objects. It can go up to controlling entire concepts of existence." He raised his hand as a ball of light suddenly formed, floating above his palm, before quickly disappearing.
Myra gasped at the sudden demonstration of his powers.
"And... And... I was picked.. By one of those... Oceans?" Myra reeled in the insanity of the whole situation.
"Yes, you were." He clapped his hands. "Freak out and get excited!"
She stared at him. "But.. That still doesn't explain.. Why could I see those things.. While others didn't...?"
"Ah. Right. Nearly forgot about that one." He let out a clearly fake laugh. "You see... Not everyone can see the drowned, only ones chosen by the Oceans can see them."
"The drowned can interact with normal humans, yes. But the reason they stay discreet and don't just go attack anyone their eyes land on... Is this." He pointed at the symbol on the roof.
"The Mariana. The ocean users, usually known as 'Waveborn'. are the only ones that can see, and kill, the Drowned. So they try to find the right time to catch a prey and get away before an Ocean user gets them."
He chuckled once more. "And well, the big woman in the big chair told me to 'extend my apology for not being able to be there on time and save you family'. But we're over that, Right?" He reached out and ruffled her hair gently.
Myra stared down in disbelief as she remembered the gruesome sight of her family's death. Slight anger welled up in her core at how he's so casual about this...
But then again.. He saved her life... She owes him...
"...Sure..." She muttered. Too shocked to even push him off.
"Great! I like a person who knows when to let go of the past!" He cackled. "You earned yourself one! Catch!" He reached in the snack bag he bought before saving her, and tossed her a chocolate bar.
"I'll be back when ya recover! Good luck!" He waved at her before approaching the door and disappearing into the outer hall, the door quickly closing on its own behind him.
She let out a long sigh as she looked at the chocolate bar he gave her. Then at the table next to her bed. She saw her diary... And Sam's snacks...
Tears welled up in her eyes as she set the chocolate aside and reached for the candy. "I'm so sorry, Sammy..."
She opened Sam's snacks as she sobbed between each bite. Imagining how happy he would've been to have these if he was alive. But she's gonna have them for him.
A little while later, she had finished all the snacks she had bought him, wiped her tears as she reached for her diary, flipping to an empty page and clicking her pen as she started writing.
She voiced out the words she wrote.
"Dear Diary, Today is the fourteenth of the year 2028. So much has happened in that one day... Mom, dad, and Sammy are dead.. And I almost did, too... But I was saved.. By some guy called Rei Kannazaki... He's pretty weird... But he took me to this strange organization hideout.. Called 'The Mariana', or whatever."
Tears welled up in her eyes again. But she quickly wiped them away and took a deep breath as she continued writing.
"I was healed by some doctor called Hibiki Amagishi... She seems nice... Rei also told me what those monsters are, apparently they're called 'Drowned'. Creatures so bad not even Tartarus wants them..."
She shivered at the thought. Putting the pen in her mouth a bit to think what to write before putting it on the paper again.
"I also saw a strange dream. I was underwater... But I could breathe.. There were strange objects falling from the sky.. Swords, shields, statues, instruments.. And stuff that looks like it came straight out of a fantasy show.."
She chuckled lightly. Trying to find happiness despite what she's been through. She knew Rei told her not to tell anyone about this, but she doubts anyone would read her diary.
"That Rei guy told me that means I've been chosen by an 'Ocean'.. That is yet to manifest.. But I think it means that I'm gonna have super powers! Awesome, right!?"
She sighed and smiled. She felt weird. She should be sad, should be crying by now, her family just died! But for some reason... She feels safe...
She looked at the sunset out the window, leaving an orange hue on the empty landscape around the place. This place was literally floating above the ocean.. But she saw too much today to be surprised anymore.
She closed off her diary with one last line.
"Dear Diary... Today, I died. And somehow came back, to an entirely new life..."
[Chapter Four: END.]