Chapter 186: 186: From The Sea
"But..." Mr. Hugo was still worried. "You can’t risk it. You can’t risk letting anyone know about your illness—talk more about those marquises. If they do, they’ll clearly take advantage of it. You can’t let it happen..."
Adrian got out his handkerchief from his side and wiped his lips and hands. "No one will find out till I let them know, isn’t that so?"
He hesitated and then said, "Besides, I can’t miss the meeting for my illness. I have to be there, else people will talk. Especially since the issue of the Wizard of EL is already growing rampant."
Adrian turned to Mr. Hugo. "Get me my medicine so I can take it. I’ll be setting out soon for the meeting. Besides, I won’t waste time there."
Mr. Hugo sighed. "Are you sure about going...?"
"Don’t worry about me and get it. I’ve been managing it for years. This won’t be anything compared to all those years." He turned to the mirror. "I won’t let those malicious marquises get what they want. Rather, I’ll make sure they don’t."
Mr. Hugo hesitated and then nodded. "Okay then, sir."
Mr. Hugo was gone, and soon he returned with a drink, which he offered to Adrian. Adrian accepted it and gulped it down.
Mr. Hugo took the cup away.
"I’ll be setting off then. I won’t want to be late," Adrian said as he turned and walked off. Mr. Hugo followed behind.
******
The night was calm.
Too calm.
The sea breeze sang and the waters washed through the sand that sat near it, its water gently brushing the surface while the sea wave sang through the night.
As the water washed out onto the surface, the body of someone was washed out too.
And there Eden lay, drenched in water.
He lay there on the sand’s surface for a while, unconscious. And soon a fish swam out of the sea too and fell on him.
The fish jumped over his body for a time, and soon a purple dust sprinkled from the fish and all over Eden. The fish soon morphed into a white cat—Lenny.
And Eden coughed out a good amount of water before he opened his eyes.
Still coughing, he slowly sat up as he looked around. His hands ran through his hair, drenched in water, as he coughed.
He looked around, taking his time to observe his environment. "Where am I...?"
Lenny coughed beside him. "Alive. At least."
Eden stared at Lenny, who was also drenched in water. "What happened...? Where... is this?"
"You were the one who was so enthusiastic about jumping into the middle of nowhere. Where do you expect to be?" Lenny stared up at him.
Eden looked around. "Oh. That." He recalled jumping off the cliff. "Felix? Where is he? Didn’t he jump with us? Did they catch him?"
"He also jumped in with us," Lenny said. "But I couldn’t find him. Maybe he drifted far off?"
Eden blinked. "That’s bad for him then. Can he swim?"
Lenny shrugged. "I don’t know. But he still has some powers left with him; I suppose he can do something with it."
Eden bit his lower lip. He was worried that Felix might not be able to make use of his powers properly to swim his way out. He now stared at Lenny. "We can’t just leave him there. What if he’s drowning or something? You know he can be a bit stupid."
Lenny stared at him; he blinked. "So what do you want me to do?"
Lenny didn’t like the look on Eden’s face. He could tell where he was going with those words and that look.
"What?" Lenny asked again.
Eden now smiled, putting on his most convincing smile, both hands now clasped together. "Go and look for him. Pretty please."
"Why would I do that? I’m not the one who threw him into the ocean," Lenny defended.
"Pretty please," he pleaded.
"No." Lenny shook his head. "It’s your love life. Deal with it. Why should I get involved?"
"Because I can’t magically change into a fish," Eden smiled.
Lenny cast him a cold glare. "Maybe if you practiced magic a little more, you probably could."
Eden still blinked. "Please. I love you, kitty."
"Don’t call me that," Lenny muttered.
"So you’ll do it? You just have to survey the water to see if you’ll sense him," Eden said.
Lenny sighed. He rolled his eyes. "I can’t believe I’m always forced to get involved in your love story."
He sighed as he turned into a fish.
Eden smiled. "Thanks."
He watched as Lenny jumped into the water and began his survey.
Lenny took his time, going through the ocean and running his search for Felix. Then soon, to Eden, he jumped out of the sea and morphed back into a cat, shaking himself from the water that ran through his fur.
"So...? Where is he...?" Eden inquired, curious. He didn’t see Lenny with anyone.
"I didn’t find anything."
"Huh?" Eden was confused. "What do you mean...? He’s not there...?"
Lenny shook his head. "Surprisingly not."
Eden blinked. "But... how’s that even possible...? I mean, he also jumped in, so he should be around here somewhere..."
"I also found it confusing," Lenny added.
"Wait," Eden panicked. "What if he was eaten by a crocodile?"
"..." Lenny blinked.
"I’m pretty sure I would have still felt his energy if he was..." Lenny said.
"Then it means he’s not in the sea anymore?" Eden asked.
"Probably," Lenny shrugged.
Eden sighed. "But how’s that even possible...? Did something snatch him away?"
"Or maybe he disappeared?" Lenny suggested.
Eden sighed. "Makes sense."
Lenny looked around. "It’s already getting darker, so I think we should hurry out of here before we actually face real danger."
"True." Eden brought himself to his feet, brushing off the sand glued to his clothes. "We should find somewhere to spend the night. Because I don’t think I’m ready to spend it in the woods."
Eden led the way, following the path ahead that led into the woods. Lenny followed behind.