Guardian of the Abyssal Sea —A Sakamata Chloe Side Story— - A Promise Decaying in the Abyssal Sea

Darkness. Water pressure crushed her whole body. Her lungs burned as if on fire. (I'm—) At the bottom of her consciousness, Sakamata Chloe knew she was still alive. Something heavy weighed on her left arm. Cold. It was Kaito's body. The water's surface swayed white under the moonlight. The bow of Urabe Takeshi's fishing boat, the *Shiokaze Maru*, caught sight of the two figures floating among the waves. The deck light illuminated Chloe's pale face. Blood streaming from her neck spread in dark streaks across the sea's surface. "Hey, you two down there!" Takeshi's roar echoed across the pre-dawn sea. But there was no reply. In her hazy consciousness, Chloe sensed the shadow of the boat and the thick arm that reached down from it. A rough hand, a fisherman's hand, seized her arm. "...This is a damn mess." Takeshi muttered under his breath. His head was shaved close in a short crop, streaked with white. A stubbled face. But his small black eyes were sharp, instantly assessing the extent of both their wounds. Without a word, he hauled Chloe onto the boat, then lifted Kaito's body after her. Kaito's right prosthetic eye was shattered, golden fragments embedded in his eyelid. His left eye was closed, and all color had drained from his pale lips. "Full speed back. Don't you dare die on me." That was all Takeshi said before he leaped into the wheelhouse. The engine roared, and the *Shiokaze Maru* kicked up white spray as it set course for a small fishing port on the shores of Tokyo Bay. Chloe lay collapsed on the deck, staring up at the starry sky. (Kaito... Kaito...) In her heart, she called her childhood friend's name over and over. With trembling fingers, she gripped his hand, which was growing colder. Her *shio-kaku*, like a cracked piece of glasswork, throbbed with pain deep in her chest. She had almost no power left as a Guardian now. --- They reached the fishing port at the darkest hour before dawn. Takeshi carried Chloe and Kaito into the back room of his restaurant, Orca Diner. The six-mat Japanese-style room was decorated with old fishing photographs and faded *tairyō-bata* flags. He cranked the heater to maximum, pulled thick futons from the closet, and laid the two of them down without ceremony. "Stay still." When Chloe opened her mouth to say something, Takeshi silenced her with a gesture. The wound spreading across her neck, where scale-like patterns had peeled away. Even seeing that, his small black eyes showed no disturbance. He simply, wordlessly, took disinfectant and bandages from the first-aid kit. The first joints of his left middle and ring fingers were missing. With those fingers, he began cleaning Chloe's wound with practiced ease. (This man...) Chloe understood that she didn't need to hide anything from him. The disinfectant stung her wound. It hurt. But more than that— "...Uu... ah..." The dam she had held in place burst. The tears she had been suppressing until now overflowed in a hot torrent. Her grandmother's lies. Naruse's sneer. The fifty-two people who died at the station. And Kaito. Everything seemed to flow out of her along with the tears. Takeshi said nothing. He simply stood in the kitchen. The sound of oil popping. The smell of miso soup. Only the satisfying sound of deep-frying horse mackerel echoed through the quiet diner. --- "...Where am I?" It was late afternoon when Kaito, near death, regained consciousness. His left eye stared vaguely at the ceiling. The feel of the futon beneath him. The scent of the sea. Old photographs on the wall—a black-and-white picture of Igarashi Genzou and a young Urabe Takeshi holding up a *tairyō-bata* together. The moment he saw it, Kaito's breathing became ragged. "...Genzou...san..." The shoji screen to the back room slid open. Takeshi entered quietly, holding a steaming bowl of miso soup. "You're awake. I won't tell you to eat. But at least take in the smell." Takeshi sat down by Kaito's pillow and gestured with his chin toward the photo of his younger self. "That bastard Genzou and I go way back, since we were brats. Right before he died, in his hospital bed, he kept saying the same thing over and over." Takeshi's voice was quiet. It wasn't his usual rough, brash tone. It was a low voice, like a sea without waves. "—He kept blaming himself, saying that child made everyone who tried to protect her die. He said no matter how many times he told her his death wasn't her fault, she wouldn't listen." A single tear spilled from Kaito's left eye. On the other side of the wall. In the next room, Chloe lay under her futon, listening to that voice. "...No. It's because I chased after Genzou-san... because I pushed the boat too hard and got too close to his ship. I... it was my fault..." Kaito's voice was hoarse, mixed with sobs. "...So all this time, you've been convinced that the deaths of those who tried to protect you were your own fault." It was a quiet but heavy confirmation. "I thought... that the will to protect kills people. That just protecting changes nothing. That's why... that's why I..." "And for that, you clung to a twisted idea of progress?" Kaito didn't answer. He just wept. On the other side of the wall, Chloe bit her lip. (Kaito... you've been carrying that all along...) His rejection of protection, his clinging to progress—it all came from the terror that the will to protect invites death. It was a desperate form of self-defense. Inside Chloe, her anger toward Kaito reversed, from its very foundation, into sorrow. --- Night. Chloe sat beside Kaito's pillow. She wrapped both her hands around his cold right hand. "...Kaito. Do you remember? That day we made our promise on Coral Hill." Her voice was as quiet as the deep sea. "That you and I would protect the Abyssal Sea together. The day Grandma... Minashi taught us the meaning of the *shio-kaku*. The coral was glowing, the sea was sparkling. You said it, didn't you? 'Whatever Chloe protects, I'll protect too.'" Kaito's left eye opened slightly. "...I remember. That day, I... to you..." His left hand searched for the pendant on its chain. But the engagement ring that should have been there had shattered to nothing in the collapse of Station Leviath. "...Chloe. I was wrong. The sea... only you can protect it." He continued in a faint voice. "Do you know about *shio-kaku* succession? It's a forbidden ritual—transplanting one *shio-kaku* into another to double its power." Chloe's shoulders trembled violently. "...No. I don't want that. I'll reseal it alone—" That was when Chloe started to cry out. From the old television set in the Orca Diner, the chime of breaking news rang out. *'Breaking news. Sheavers CEO Naruse Souichirou has just held an emergency press conference, announcing that the deep-sea Station Leviath in the Mariana Trench was destroyed by a terrorist group calling themselves the Sea Folk.'* The TV showed Naruse holding his press conference in tears. *'All fifty-two crew members have been confirmed dead. This is a cowardly attack on humanity's ocean development efforts...'* "That son of a bitch...!" Takeshi slammed his fist on the counter. His silver tooth glinted, reflecting the diner's fluorescent lights. "He's starting a cover-up—zero survivors. He's setting you two up as criminals!" Chloe's fingers tightened around Kaito's hand. The merciless news continued from the TV. Sea Folk terrorists—wanted fugitives—the world now recognized them as enemies. They could no longer hide on land. Then, from Takeshi's radio, a tense voice cut through the static. An emergency transmission from the remnants of the *Shioden* network. *'—Three large entities. Departed the Voltea Rift. Course: Tokyo Bay. Estimated arrival: within forty-eight hours.'* A mechanical report. But its meaning was annihilation. "...I have to go." Chloe stood up on trembling legs. Her wounds hadn't healed yet. The cracks etched into her *shio-kaku* seemed ready to shatter at any moment. Even so, she had to go. --- Before dawn. Chloe borrowed the keys to the *Shiokaze Maru* from Urabe Takeshi. Without a word, Takeshi was roughly stuffing a waterproof bag with a huge amount of fried horse mackerel and a thermal pot of miso soup. His missing fingers caught on the bag's zipper again and again. "...Go." Takeshi clapped a rough hand on Chloe's shoulder. "But don't you dare die. You're too young for this shit, and you're doing a hell of a job." Through her tear-blurred vision, Chloe spoke her real name aloud for the first time. "I'm... Shiona. Not Sakamata Chloe. Shiona. My real name... I could never tell anyone." She took a deep breath. "What I want to protect is this sea—and a world where people like you exist. I'm going now." Takeshi didn't answer. He just twisted the corner of his mouth into a slight smile. --- The *Shiokaze Maru* was moored at the fishing port's pier. When Chloe climbed aboard, Kaito was already there waiting, having dragged himself up under his own power. His face was pale. Fragments of his shattered prosthetic eye still bit into his eyelid. But in his left eye, a faint light had returned. "...Let me fulfill our real promise." Chloe nodded without a word. The *Shiokaze Maru*'s engine rumbled quietly to life. With the dawn horizon at their backs, the small fishing boat carrying the two of them set course from Tokyo Bay toward the Pacific Abyssal Sea. The boat's wake frothed white. Beyond the horizon, the sun was beginning to rise. But at the bottom of the deep sea, the three Spawn of the Maelstrom were ticking away the hours until destruction, steadily drawing closer to Tokyo Bay.

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Episode 6

Name: Guardian of the Abyssal Sea —A Sakamata Chloe Side Story—
Author: Novelia

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