Page 92 of A Reckless Indulgence

But her song is not hers any longer. It hasn’t been for a long time. It never will be again.

The resistance leeches out of her. Finally, Tidus rolls off her. He sits in the sand and watches the world burn. This feels like drowning, too.

Her hand brushes something cold and rough. She spreads her fingers over the weathered stone. In the corner of her eye, something glows.

Tidus doesn’t notice the shell flickering in his chest. Lyx’s throat aches to be reunited, but her song is different this time. It no longer reaches out to pull her toward it; instead, it seems to be pushing her away.

Her heart breaks. Sadness threatens to consume her, but she understands. No matter what else Tidus took from her, he could never take that.

She can’t keep looking behind her. She can’t keep fighting to return to a life she isn’t sure she ever wanted. She can’t go back. The person she used to be is gone.

Slowly, she pushes off the ground. Her fingers curl around the rock, heavy and solid amongst the fire and smoke.

Tidus doesn’t look away from the ship. “You’ll come around, Lyx. You’ll see.”

She swings. Pain jolts up her arm. The rock connects with the shell, and Tidus sprawls back and clutches at his chest.

The shell is still intact. He breathes a sigh of relief, snarling and raring back his arm to lunge for her —

The crack in the shell spreads. It splits like ice over water, a shrill scream building in the air. The light inside it glows so bright that Lyx has to cover her eyes and turn her face away before the shell bursts.

Shrapnel pelts her skin. Her throat grasps and tightens, reaching for the final trail of her song, but it’s gone. It slips away, fading further and further until she can no longer feel its pull.

Her song is free.

The husk of the shell topples from Tidus’s shoulder. He grapples to reassemble the broken pieces, but they fall apart in his hands. “Fucking bitch!”

He collides with her. It takes all her strength to jam her knee into his stomach and knock the wind from him. Even then, he keeps coming. She gets her feet under her and scrambles toward the blazing ship, searching desperately for Cav. Her song is gone. He should be free. He should be —

A bullet whizzes past her. She ducks behind a barrel, and through the smoke, she can make out a body lying limply on the boat ramp. Cav is blackened with soot, facedown and arms outstretched.

More shots fire. One pierces the barrel. Liquid leaks onto her feet, and when it becomes red and muddy, she realizes her cheek is bleeding.

Tidus circles in front of her and aims straight for her head — but the gun clicks. He squeezes the trigger again, but the chamber is empty. With a scream, he drags Lyx to her feet and flings her backward. Something jams into her side, a metal switch creaking out of place as she slides to the ground. The pain is dizzying. She tries to stand, but Tidus is on top of her, falling to his knees on either side of her. “You threw this away. For what?!”

Beneath the ship, its wooden supports begin to burn. They char and crack as the full weight of the hull settles onto them.

Tidus’s fingers dig into her throat. “For him? He’s nothing! He’s dead!”

Gravity takes its toll. The metal carriage holding the Indulgence shifts inch by inch.

Tidus’s face distorts. “You can’t even love him! You can’t love anything!”

Darkness creeps in from the edge of Lyx’s vision. This is drowning, she remembers. Her fingers fumble for something, anything, but all she finds is a pile of rope.

Beside them, the ship picks up speed. The rope slips through her hands as the coil unravels. Her mind is cloudy. She doesn’t fight Tidus’s hold. She grabs the rope, entangling and knotting it hopelessly around Tidus’s thigh.

He bears down harder. He never looks at where she’s scrabbling at his leg, where the pile of rope is growing smaller, where it finally pulls taut.

Tidus is yanked off her, dragged behind the ship while he shouts and claws at his leg. His fingernails scrape the ramp for purchase, but there’s no stopping it. He can’t free himself.

The Indulgence crashes into the water and sends up a massive spray. Waves pour over the ship’s railing and roll to the other side. It’s like the ocean is stirring the water back and forth, rocking the ship side to side until the entire blaze is extinguished.

There’s nothing left of Tidus. Not even a struggle.

The sea always claims its due.

THIRTY-NINE