Chapter Text
Three years ago.
A flash of lightning illuminates Clown, dripping wet from the rain, bobbing away on a lifeboat. Watching his ship, his ship, float away. A wave crashes up against The Cairn ’s side, revealing the reflection of the gold lettering on her side, shining from the lightning.
Clown grits his teeth. That’s his ship.
He’s so cold. Tiny waves lap against his feet, one shoe gone, lost somewhere in the vast ocean. The lifeboat has a leak somewhere. Each ripple of water is nothing more than slight undulations in a pond, but to Clown, they feel like tidal waves.
The Cairn is drifting away, unbothered by the storm. Clown’s vision is blurred, by the strands of wet hair blocking it out, by the droplets of water (tears, maybe) misting at the corners. He tastes iron, blood.
He can swear, almost, almost, that there is a silhouette standing at the edge of the ship, staring straight back at him. He keeps his eyes open as long as he can, icy water sinking into his bones and skin. He doesn’t blink. He watches The Cairn sail into the distance, until it’s nothing more than a dark splotch fading into the fog.
When it finally disappears, Clown keeps his eyes open, hoping, praying for it to return. For a miracle.
It doesn’t.
Clown lies down in the lifeboat, feeling the glacial water on his back, his head. He considers drowning.