Chapter Text
Everything came back to Mako Island. It had to be the origin of the sea monster, it was the only thing that made sense to Zane, there was nowhere else it could be. That’s why Zane was heading there now, the full moon lighting his way across the smooth black waters.
Even as he set foot on the island he could tell that something was off, the island seemed more alive than ever before. The air buzzed with a strange energy he hadn’t felt before, like the island itself was awake… expectant. Still he headed deeper into the island, what exactly he was trying to find he didn’t know, but he had to find something. As he stumbled deeper into the forest, a distant crackling sound grew louder and he could make out an orange glow between the trees.
As Zane got closer he realized what it was, a tree was burning. He stared at it, bewildered, the air was far too humid and cool for a forest fire to start out here. Which meant it had to have been started by someone or something else. He glanced around to find a clue or something, anything at all.
Not too far away he saw another burning tree, then another and another. Like a trail of torches leading him deeper into the island. So he followed them, careful not to get too close to the heat of the fires. If one of the trees came down he didn’t want to be in its path.
Zane kept walking and walking, the number of burning trees grew and grew. By the time he reached the end of the trail, smoke burned his lungs and stung his eyes. He stood on a rock outcropping and as he tried to rub smoke out of his eyes he stumbled and fell. Zane slipped into a small tunnel in the rock and landed on a hard stone floor with an unceremonious oof .
He scrambled to his feet and looked around wildly, he was in a small cave with a deep blue pool at one end and a figure sitting in front of the pool just staring at it. The entrance of the cave, the high mouth of the dormant volcano, let the silver light of the full moon into the small room. The air of the cave was suffocatingly hot, like the volcano was still active and they were standing on the edge of it.
Zane could already feel sweat start to cling to his skin. “What is going on?” He muttered to himself before saying, more loudly “Hello?” As he slowly approached the figure, he realized who she was. “Rikki?” Rikki was sitting with her knees pulled up to her chest, staring at the sliver of moon reflecting in the pool in front of her.
“Are you okay?” He asked quietly as he sat next to her, she looked like she was mesmerized by the water. Her skin was flushed a blotchy red, her blonde hair damp and clinging to her forehead. She looked feverish. “I’m okay.” She said quietly but her voice was wet like she had been crying.
“It’s just,” She paused, turning to look at him. “I can’t do this anymore.” She looked away from him again. “Can’t do what?” Zane asked hesitantly, she shook her head. “This. Everything.” Then more quietly, “It’s too hard. No one understands.”
Zane may not know what Rikki is talking about but he understood the feeling. Most people thought he was crazy, yelling about sea monsters, sometimes even he wasn’t sure what he saw was real. But he had to prove he wasn’t crazy. Had to show that what he saw was real. “I know exactly how that feels.” They sat in silence for a moment before he asked, “Rikki what happened out there? Everything was on fire. You’re a mess.” He chuckled nervously, plucking a stray leaf that had gotten stuck in her hair. She looked at him with dazed eyes, like she was stuck in trance and given her current state Zane was starting to fret.
He placed the back of his hand on her forehand and immediately pulled it away with a hiss, Rikki was burning hot to the touch, worryingly so. Zane instinctively dipped his burned hand in the surprisingly cool water of the pool in front of them.
“I think you should try to cool down. Here, the water might help.” He said as he nudged her towards the water. He watched as she stood and slowly walked towards the pool, she stopped just at the edge and turned, holding out a hand to him. Zane hesitated for a moment, but something about the look in her eye made him take her hand. He winced at how hot it was as Rikki pulled him after her into the pool.
As soon as he was in the pool with her, Rikki turned around and pulled him into a burning kiss. It was scolding on his lips but somehow so gentle. For a second he melted into the kiss, letting her trail fingers like fire into his dark hair. He had been nursing his stupid crush on her for quite some time now, since the day of the seminar, certain she, much like her friends, barely tolerated him. And now here she was, kissing him.
But then it was too hot, The water around them began to boil, searing his skin. The air felt molten. It was too much, too hot , like lava was coursing in his veins, like he was boiling from the inside out. He managed to tear away from her burning lips and hands, gasping. His skin burned, his head spun, his eyes blurred and he could barely think through the pain and the seemingly unending heat. He might have screamed, been screaming, he wasn’t sure.
He barely managed to stagger out of the pool before he collapsed on the stone floor, vision swimming, gasping while his lungs filled with the burning cave air. Maybe this was what Rikki had been talking about, he understood what she meant now, how could anyone stand such unbearable heat. He could see his vision start to darken and blur around the edges.
Rikki was on fire.
Mako was on fire.
And so was Zane .
Those were the last things he thought before he passed out, staring up at the uncaring full moon.