It had been three days and four nights since Marella disappeared into the pitch-black ocean. The search and rescue team was working tirelessly to find her, but so far there were no clear clues as to her whereabouts. The teachers and adults are beginning to feel anxious, yet they are reluctant to inform Marella's parents. They are aware that the girl's parents wield significant influence in this country. The Aquitaine family ranks among the wealthiest in the nation, so the teachers fear losing their jobs or facing more serious consequences. Furthermore, Marella had not told her parents about the school's sea excursion.
Currently, local residents, the search and rescue team, students, and teachers have gathered on the black sand beach in a solemn atmosphere. They plan to perform a ritual suggested by a local traditional leader. Karang, with a blank expression, prepares a small wooden boat, complete with a seat, a plate, and leaf decorations. She places various types of satay on it, each consisting of one hundred skewers.
The small boat was set adrift into the sea, heading out toward the open ocean. Karang, with a wistful gaze, watched the dark sea along the shoreline as night began to fall. "I've prepared your favorite food. If you come back, I'll treat you to as much satay as you want," Karang said softly, watching the small boat slowly drift away, carried by the strong waves.
On the other side, a man with yellow eyes was lighting a lantern with a piece of paper containing a few words inside; he placed the paper inside and then released the lantern into the air, carried by the breeze. He looked up at the lantern glowing in the darkness of the night, a faint smile etched on his lips. A girl in skimpy beachwear approached him. "Noel, what are you doing?" the girl asked, causing Noel to turn to face her, looking displeased.
"I'm participating in the ritual, Araya," Noel replied.
Araya looked annoyed and grabbed Noel's arm. "You don't need to do that. You hate her," Araya snapped sharply, glaring at Noel with furrowed brows. Araya glared at Noel with a probing gaze. "Or…" Araya paused mid-sentence. "Are you interested in her?" she asked accusingly.
Noel froze for a moment. He really didn't like being around Marella; he should have been overjoyed when she disappeared and could no longer bother him. Yet, for some reason, deep down, he felt a sense of loss at the absence of her noisy voice, which had constantly disrupted his solitude. Noel looked straight into Araya's eyes. The frustration and disappointment were clearly visible there. Noel's heart belonged to Araya, not Marella. He couldn't let Araya be disappointed in him or hate him just because of Marella. Marella wasn't his concern because he didn't love or even like her; perhaps these feelings arose only because he was worried and felt sorry for the girl. Noel had to ignore Marella
Noel cupped Araya's face. "I just feel sorry for her. Don't be sad. My love is only for you," Noel said, causing Araya to flash a wide, triumphant smile before wrapping her arms around Noel's neck.
"Promise? Don't care about Marella anymore?" Araya asked, staring intently at Noel's face.
Noel nodded firmly. "I promise," he said.
Back in the depths of the distant sea, Marella had spent the entire day with Eldoris on the shore of an uninhabited island, eating fish caught by Eldoris and cooked by Marella. Fortunately, Marella had found some excellent wood to build a fire. And now Marella waved at the monkeys who had been waiting for them all along and helping them pick coconuts. Marella gazed at the darkening evening sky and carved something in the sand that caught Eldoris's attention. "What is that?" Eldoris asked.
"It's a heart shape," said Marella, finishing her drawing in the beach sand.
"What is a heart?" Eldoris asked curiously.
"A heart is an organ, you have one here too," said Marella, touching Eldoris's broad, athletic chest. "It beats fast when you love someone," explained Marella, causing Eldoris to nod in understanding and draw a heart like Marella's next to hers. "It's the same when you're sad and heartbroken," whispered Marella, recalling what had happened on the ship back then. Her heart raced uncontrollably when she felt sad and heartbroken.
Eldoris touched her own chest, feeling her rapid heartbeat. "Love?" Eldoris murmured to herself. In her heart, she smiled at Marella. "You know, this reminds me of painting," Eldoris exclaimed.
"Really?" Marella asked.
"Yes, there's a place with lots of paintings inside. Do you want to see it?" Eldoris asked.
Marella nodded enthusiastically. "Of course. But how can an art museum be underwater?" Marella asked.
Eldoris furrowed her brow. "What do you mean? This isn't the kind of place you're thinking of."
"Then what is it?" Marella asked curiously.
"I'll take you there later," said Eldoris.
"Why later?" asked Marella, pouting at Eldoris in disappointment.
Eldoris gently tapped her finger against Marella's lips, startling the girl. "I have something to do. Don't pout, it makes you look ugly."
Marella curled the corners of her lips in annoyance, glaring at Eldoris. "You're more ugly.
It was getting late. Eldoris approached Marella, who was sitting at the edge where the seawater met the sand. "Do you want to go home?" Eldoris asked, causing Marella to shake her head briefly
"Wait a moment," said Marella, who appeared to be observing something in the distance, cupping her hands around her eyes as if peering through a telescope. Then her nose twitched slightly, catching a scent she found very familiar. "Doris, please fetch that small boat," Marella requested, pointing to the small boat bobbing on the ocean's surface, not far from where they were. Eldoris waved her hand toward the ocean, causing a small wave to carry the little boat toward the shore of the island where they were sitting. Marella dragged herself toward the boat, her eyes sparkling as she looked at its contents. "Satay," was the single word that escaped Marella's lips. She looked happy and excited.
Eldoris, feeling curious, approached Marella. She peered at the boat's contents and saw a strange, brown, mud-like object there. "What is that?" Eldoris asked, pointing at the object on the boat.
Marella picked one up and held it out to Eldoris's lips. "This is a delicious food too. It's called satay," Marella explained, pointing to the food in her hand. "Open your mouth," Marella instructed. Eldoris accepted the bite from Marella and chewed the large piece of satay.
It felt unfamiliar on Eldoris's tongue, but it wasn't bad. "Delicious," Eldoris remarked.
Marella raised an eyebrow, looking at the small boat. Why had satay ended up here? Did it have an owner? But there's so much of it, it would be a shame to let it drift aimlessly in the sea without being eaten. Marella lifted the satay in front of her and began taking one skewer at a time to taste it. "Delicious, I've missed satay, there's no satay out at sea," Marella rambled, savoring the satay
Eldoris also took a skewer of satay from in front of Marella and lifted it to put it in her mouth again.
After a while, the two of them looked exhausted from finishing off the hundreds of skewers of satay. Marella and Eldoris lay lazily on the sand side by side. Marella rubbed her flat stomach, which felt so full that she didn't even feel like getting up.
Eldoris felt the same way, but he couldn't stay here too long. He was worried Marella wouldn't be able to sleep soundly. Eldoris stood up. "Let's go back, come on," Eldoris urged. Marella shook her head slowly. "My stomach is full. It feels like it's hard just to get up," Marella said with a pitiful expression
Eldoris clicked his tongue, moving closer to Marella who was lying down, then lifted her body bridal-style. "Huh?" Marella was surprised that the man was still strong enough to lift her into the air, even though she must be heavy from eating so much. "Am I heavy?" Marella asked as Eldoris was about to step into the water.
Eldoris chuckled, amused; he didn't think the mermaid in his arms was heavy at all. "You're heavy, you drank too much coconut water," Eldoris teased, his face softening at the end as he saw Marella's pouting expression with her lips puckered.
"Alright, I won't eat all day tomorrow so I can lose weight," Marella declared, causing Eldoris to gently pinch both of Marella's nostrils.
"No, you'll get sick. I'd rather see you eat a lot, it's adorable," Eldoris said, causing Marella's cheeks to flush red. Then Eldoris entered the water with Marella.
A split second after they left the island, a yellow light slowly descended lower and lower until it landed on the island's sandy beach. The paper attached to it came loose and flew away before the lantern burned out.
That scrap of paper landed upside down in the sand.
...Eyes OF The Sea...
...Happy Reading...