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The Leviathan — Levi — was real.
Wifies woke up on the ship that had two beds in the cabin since always. He stared at the second bed, which had been empty since a month ago.
Levi was real, and Hummer was still… missing?
Wifies kicked off his blanket, making his way to the bow of the ship to harvest the small garden and make a breakfast. The right word was 'missing', he decided, because 'dead' felt like the wrong word. He shook his head. The wheat turned into bread. 'Dead' was the wrong word, because somewhere out there was a very much alive Hummer. Wifies could feel it.
Hummer hasn't replied to the e-mail that Wifies had sent all those weeks ago. He hasn't replied to the second one, either. Wifies had searched through countless different worlds, servers with reports of a Leviathan. He thought that, maybe, he wasn't answering his messages because he was out exploring. That he was somewhere, alive, searching for Levi just like he always had.
Wifies took a bite of his bread. He had yet to find him.
Levi was real, and Hummer was still missing.
He stared out at the open, too-deep sea. The last time he had seen Hummer had been right before Levi showed up. Surely, Levi had seen him that day. Maybe he knew what had happened. Maybe if…
°‧ 𓆝 𓆟 𓆞 𓆝 𓆟 ·｡
Wifies' lungs burned.
This was a bad idea, a theory based on near nothing. And yet, here he was, pulling himself down a length of kelp because the elevator didn't feel appropriate. Because, for whatever reason, he felt Levi would like it more if he just jumped in.
His body convulsed. He lost his grip on the length of kelp.
A part of his mind, a part which he had pushed to the very back and wished into silence, celebrated. It sung for the possibility that maybe he'd reach the surface in time, that maybe he'd get another lungful of air before he ran out.
Wifies gripped onto the length of kelp again. He ignored the fact that, in his panic to get a hold on the kelp, he had let salt water flood into his lungs. He willed his body to listen. He pulled himself further down.
He thought, for a moment, that maybe he should've brought a potion. Something to reassure his body until he touched the bottom and laid there.
The thought was quickly pushed down, somewhere unreachable and quiet. Hummer had said that Levi didn't like when potions were used. Hummer had been right about Levi existing, so surely he had been right about this, too. If Wifies really, truly wanted to gain enough favor from Levi for him do fulfill a request, he needed to follow every rule to the tee.
In the darkness, Wifies made out the ocean floor. His body convulsed. He kept pulling himself deeper.
If Levi was there when Hummer went missing, if Levi saw, then maybe he knew where Hummer was. Maybe he could carry a message, give an answer. Maybe—
The burning in his chest began to flicker out, the ache in his body to fight its way back to the surface fading. Something heavy like sleep washed over his form. By now, he knew what the calmness meant.
Levi? Wifies thought out into the ocean, and somehow he was sure Levi would hear him. Do you know where he is?
He paused for a moment, adjusting himself against the sea floor to something more suitable for death. He clarified: Hummer. Do you know where Hummer is?
He stared blankly up at where the sunlight had fallen out of reach, letting the remaining emptiness of his lungs fill with salt water.
Please, Levi. He thought out into the sea, because Levi would hear him. Bring Hummer back, if you can.
°‧ 𓆝 𓆟 𓆞 𓆝 𓆟 ·｡
He felt sick.
He felt dizzy.
Everything hurt. His throat felt like it was on fire. It stung as he coughed out the salt water from his lungs.
The world was blurry. Nothing around him made sense quite yet.
He felt cold, like the ocean had dug itself into the bark of his bones.
Cold hands held him steady. They rubbed soothing shapes into his shoulders as he coughed out the water onto what he barely recognized as his bed.
He felt weak.
He collapsed.
He felt tired.
A dry blanket fell over him. It felt nice. It felt warm. He was still cold, but not quite like before.
Everything hurt. The world was blurry. His eyes were heavy.
A voice said something. It sounded familiar.
°‧ 𓆝 𓆟 𓆞 𓆝 𓆟 ·｡
The first thing Wifies took note of upon regaining consciousness is that he felt horrible. His whole body ached and his throat was dry. He groaned.
The second thing Wifies took note of was the fact that he was not only dry, but warm. He could hear a furnace crackling nearby.
Odd. He thought, turning over in the bed and lazily opening his eyes. I don't remember putting something in there.
"Oh, good, you're up," A voice chimed in a half-whisper. "I was just making dinner."
Wifies blinked at the man before him. At the glowing screen that covered his face.
The third thing Wifies took note of was that this man looked exactly like Hummer. He sounded like him too.
A burst of energy rushed through his body. Thing three-and-a-half that he took note of was that the man in front of him didn't look or sound like Hummer, because he was—
"Hummer!" He kicked off the blanket, stumbled onto his still-aching legs. "You're back!"
The lights on Hummer's screen shifted in the way Wifies had learned they did when he 'smiled'.
"I am," he said.
"You…" Wifies took a breath, his face beginning to ache with a smile. "You were right! Levi, he's real. He's really real."
The screen-face flickered again, the 'smile' growing.
"I saw him, Hummer. I saw… oh, it was incredible. He showed me this… this… mm…" Wifies waved his arms around, giving up on finding words. "It doesn't matter. Levi is real. You were… you…"
Wifies paused. Hummer was right in front of him.
He squeezed his fingers into his palms until it hurt, just to make sure he wasn't dreaming. Hesitantly, he reached out and pinched the fabric of Hummer's sleeve, just to make sure he wasn't hallucinating.
"You're back." He breathed, holding his arms out as if to point out Hummer's existence out to him.
"Of course I am." Hummer shrugged, as if it was as simple and true as the sea being deep. "You called."
"I—" Wifies squeezed his hands, bending his arms back. He squinted.
He hadn't called. Sure, there had been that thing with Levi just some hours ago, but surely that's wasn't what he was referring to. If it was, Hummer would've definitely said so. After all, Hummer never turned down an opportunity to talk about Levi.
Wifies shook his head. "It was an e-mail, but sure. And that was weeks ago. You couldn't have, I don't know, replied?"
"The e-mail—?" Hummer's screen-face flickered in a way Wifies didn't quite recognize. "Oh, right. Yeah, sorry 'bout that. You know how I am."
"You really got to get better at replying."
"Yeah."
A silence settled over them, half-awkward with the need to be broken. Hummer stared at him in that way he always did, unmoving and with full attention, as if Wifies was a vessel to all the answers he ever wanted. Wifies shied away from the gaze, looking over Hummers shoulder and out at the open, too-deep sea. A sea that held a beast that he had seen. A sea that held a beast that Hummer hadn't…
Wifies swallowed, nodding at his own thoughts.
"Tomorrow," he said, turning his attention back to Hummer. "Tomorrow we go look for Levi again."
Hummer tilted his head, his screen-face flickering with what Wifies knew to be confusion.
"You finished your research, though," he said.
"Yeah," Wifies replied, "but I want you to see it, too."
Hummer stayed silent for a moment. His screen-face flickered.
"Okay." He nodded. "Tomorrow."