Karna's strokes had gone heavy long ago. She'd searched the streets until her body nearly gave out. This place swallowed people whole, and if she didn't find him soon, she might never see him again. At last she slowed, bracing her hand against a stone wall.
Suddenly, as she struggled to catch her breath, a figure surged past in a burst of speed, slicing past her before he dove into a dark alley. "Hey—hey, listen to this! You guys won't believe what I heard!"
Shadowy figures in the alley stirred, drawn by the cheerful tune of his voice. His words eddied in low currents, too far for Karna to catch. She drifted near, leaning against a wall beside the alley, unsure why her instincts had led her to do something so unlike her.
Suddenly the alley erupted in cheers and screams of despair.
GA HA HA HA!
"Is it my birthday today?" a fishman of small stature cackled, wiping a tear from his eye as it dissolved into the sea.
"What?!" another shouted, cheers swirling around him. "No way… Is this a nightmare? I'm gonna lose all my money!" an illusion played out before him, all his savings in the hands of another.
"It's all your fault, I told you not to but you just had to bet on something as stupid as that," a lady fishman muttered, floating past,
"You're a damn fool," she said, folding her arms in disapproval. "She was bound to be killed sooner or later. Keep this up and you'll end up single and broke for life."
A growl full of rage rippled through the group. "It should have been me, I'm the one that should be pulling that trigger!"
"L-let's all calm down now... how's this, let's have a toast!" someone called, raising a bottle of rum sealed in bubble resin.
The group turned to him, and like a wave they raised theirs one after the other, drifting in a loose circle.
The man who proposed the toast grinned wide. "To the future of fishman kind, long live the queen!"
They all burst out in cheers as the tension within them broke, no matter what they may have lost in the process, to them this was an event deserving of celebration.
Across Fishman Island, similar spectacles took place. In nearly every shady corner—from the depths of the Fishman District, to the pirates that lurked in the shadows around Gyoncorde Plaza, hoping to catch a glimpse of history play out in person. Yet despite their unrestrained revelry, the occasion remained strangely veiled. The cheers, the toasts, the curses—they all folded into the rhythm of daily life, all because nothing had happened... not yet at least.
Karna's breath quickened as she pressed her back against the wall. The revelation fell down on her like a rain of fire. She turned, intent on quietly slipping away, she had heard too much to leave as she wished.
Mwa ha ha!
"Found you Miss Karna," the boy burst into view, grinning, a rolled-up parchment raised high like a trophy. Karna froze in place at the sight of him, 'Get back to being lost you damn brat!' she cried from within as she anxiously turned her gaze back at the alley.
"Look what I—" he said once again before Karna's hand shot out. She clapped it over his mouth, pressed him hard against the wall. His muffled surprise trembled against her palm.
The silence snapped.
"You think we're idiots or something?!" A voice that could only be described as totally pissed off shrieked out from the alley, like nails down a chalkboard.
Shadows spilled from the passage. Blades hissed free, scraping against their scabbards with a sharp, grating bite. Then a single voice rose from their group.
"Don't let them get away, Captain Maw wouldn't want this kind of news spreading 'round to the wrong pair of ears!"
That name echoed off the stone, running cold down Karna's spine.
There was no time to think, she seized the boy's arm and kicked off, dragging him through the ruined lanes.
"What's going on Karna!?" he panted, breathless, trying to keep up.
"Quiet!" she snapped, sweeping the path ahead with a glance. Left—sealed off by a heap of rubble. Right—open to the square, too many eyes to slip by unnoticed.
'What did he say... Maw's dead, Vander... Killed him. It... must be someone else... It has to be, someone else' That name rang in her head like a curse, an unwelcome impossibility. Her body moved on instinct, but her mind was locked on that single thread of disbelief that challenged everything she thought she knew.
Amidst her internal turmoil, she managed to spot a narrow gap between a pair of buildings that fell on one another and dove for it, her cloak draped around them both, the boy tucked tight against her side.
The boy shifted uneasily as he tried to pull himself away from her, but Karna held him fast. A muffled squeak was all he managed before Karna clamped her hand over his mouth the instant he opened it, silencing the words that nearly slipped free.
They held firm as the horde of pirates blindly charged past.
"Skin them alive! Kya ha ha!" one shrieked, with a voice that dripped with a deep sadistic madness.
Another growled as he glared ruefully at the first, "Hey! I'm planning on keeping that girlie for myself—hands off!"
"Cut it out! None of that matters, just make sure they're found, dead or alive. Pick up the pace!" snapped a third that led their charge at the front.
Shadows that painted their cruel laughter danced across the walls. The boy could only watch, his eyes grew wide with emerald shock—paralyzed by his first encounter with the darkness of a forsaken world.
Their voices faded further into the distance. Only when the last of them rounded the corner did Karna allow the boy free from her protective embrace.
Cautiously, she made her way to the edge and poked her head out from the narrow gap, her shaky gaze fell upon the empty streets where only the distant cries of those pirate scum could be heard—far enough that it wouldn't be a stretch to assume they've lost sight of their targets.
The coast was clear, Karna pulled back into the shadows grabbing onto the boy's wrist, unknowingly she tightened her grip. "Get up, we're leaving."
Karna pulled her hood over her head, shadowing her features, tugging the boy behind her. They moved at a steady pace masking their presence in stillness and dark. They evaded their pursuers time and again before they found their way to the skull gate of the MAW where a bubble tunnel stood before them, a towering pillar that stretched beyond what they could see.
Karna's voice was low, almost a whisper meant only for herself. "We'll have to lay low for a couple of days…"
Her words blurred frantically as she swam ahead, eyes fixed on the path.
The boy, free from her hold, called out to her, "Miss Karna."
She stopped abruptly, turning to face him with a tight smile and a voice laden with frustration. "Is there a problem?"
He pulled back his hood, his eyes met hers before he spoke. "What's happening? Who were those people?"
Karna's breath caught. A drop of guilt welled inside her. "That, is none of our business, let's go." she said, turning away once more.
"Karna," the boy called again.
She stopped, unable to bring herself to turn around and face the boy. Her shoulders stiffened as she closed her eyes tight, the faint rush of the current in the bubble tunnel flowed just inches out of her reach and yet it felt impossibly distant like scenery she could only admire from afar…
"Are you... okay?" he asked softly, his voice barely more than a whisper,
The question pierced through her heart like an arrow of light—illuminating the guilt she had been hiding even from herself, shattering the fragile walls she'd built to keep it at bay.