Wrapped in a blanket like a potato, Lyrica stared at the night sky above her. Hundreds of thousands of twinkling and sparkling lights, with clusters of brown, purple, and red. She could see the whole galaxy and the stars out of her reach. I... These stars are just like Royce and my family... I can't reach them... Not yet...!

She hunched over the edge of the boat, looking at the ocean waters reflecting her face. And then, a hundred glowing orbs started approaching, a bloom of bio-luminescent jellyfish. Pretty... such beautiful lights. Some of the jellyfish were blue, some pink. Maybe the boys are blue...? And the pink ones are girls because they're cute...!

Everywhere she looked, bright beautiful lights surrounded her. As if cheering her up. There's stars everywhere...! She took a pinch of the mackerel's meat and plopped it down to the ocean. "Here, jellyfishies!" She supposedly thought that the jellyfish could eat the mackerel meat. "I wasn't able to catch any fish... And I can't eat this mackerel anyway... But if you eat this you can grow strong...!" Just like Anastasia used to say to me...

A pink jellyfish bobbed up and down, as if understanding her and approached the mackerel meat. And then with smooth movements the mackerel meat entered the jellyfish's insides. Whoah...! She started getting excited, dry coughing. Her "evapurnation" method of getting clean water didn't help her at all. Then she started plopping more and more mackerel meat into the sea, gathering the bloom of jellyfish nearer and nearer to the boat.

Beautiful... It's so bright! Like the night sky!

She started feeding the jellyfish even more finally getting her first friends.

♦ ♦ ♦

"What do you mean I can't search for her?!" Anastasia growled in protest, smashing her fists to the dinner table.

"As I said, we can't..." A grown burly man with white hair, cat ears, and a tail replied. Indeed, his name is Hammock, Lyrica's father who's an ex-peddler. "If you leave now, I won't be able to provide you with money... You'll starve to death when you arrive to Asgelius."

"So you're saying we should just give up on her??"

"No, what I'm saying is that we need to think this through thoroughly, we shouldn't let our emotions affect our decision," he replied in a small hushed voice.

"...I'm sorry," Anastasia bit her lip, it wasn't her place to decide things.

"No need, there should be an Association Branch in Kokinimachi. Rudz, do you get what I mean?"

"I guess I'll need some paper then," a small boy with blue hair replied, only a bit taller than Lyrica.

"Good, we should be able to ask the Adventurer Guild's Association Branch in Kokinimachi to put up flyers for us," all of the Guild's Association Branches communicate with each other with Fons, mana tech—magical artifacts—that use mana to do magical phenomenon without the need of a mage's casting making it usable to non-mages.

"Once we reach Kokinimachi we can post a request in the guild to put up flyers in Asgelius and to contact us once she's found, Rudz you can draw her."

"Already on it," the cat boy replied.

"Thank you... Dad," Anastasia said in a hushed tone.

"She's my daughter after all... And I can't lose you too," Hammock replied with a grimaced expression. He definitely knew that sending Anastasia would be faster and would guarantee the highest chance to find Lyrica. But his heart was weak. He couldn't afford to send one of his daughters to her death again, never again. Lyrica... If you're out there... Your dad... No, this man, me, is sorry. 'Not let our emotions affect our decisions', yeah right. Hammock continued going through his meal with a sad expression.

♦ ♦ ♦

"JELLYFISHIES!!" One by one, the bloom jellyfish started to get eaten by the school of mackerel.

She coughed, her dry lips cracking, but that didn't stop her from trying to grab a paddle and hit the fishes to prevent them from eating the jellyfish. "No... My friends are being eaten..." Her eyes watery, hunched over the edge of the boat looking at the fishes eating her friends.

A jellyfish then appeared before her, it was pink. It bobbed up and down, as if saying a final goodbye. Finally, a fish noticed it and swallowed it whole. "No! FRIENDDDDDDD!!" She screamed at the top of her lungs, coughing in a dry fit afterwards.

"..." Lyrica's eyes had the embers of passion leave them, mouth agape. My friends were probably travelling to escape from the micra ill... Because I fed them they stayed here and got eaten... This is all my fault... I won't feed wild animals anymore... Rudz was right... It's a maxi rail eats jellyfish world...

The fishes danced in the water, enjoying their feast. Some jumping out of the water and into the air. Some even landing inside of the boat. But the opposite is also true... I will avenge my friends... I will eat you!

She watched it struggle, gasping for air. Splashing and Flapping. "I'm sorry, but you ate my friend," Lyrica stayed away from it, scared with her eyes watering. "But if you eat others, you should have considered the possibility of being eaten as well," Lyrica readied herself and slowly approached it, wrapping her hands in cloth. "I'm sorry, but I need to eat you," then she gripped the mackerel tightly, steeling her resolve.

She opened her mouth, took a deep breath, and plopped it back to the ocean gently. "I forgive you." Even if I could eat you, I won't! Rudz told me to always cook my food... I don't know why but I'll do it. She coughed.

And so, Lyrica continued watching the stars above her head wrapped in a blanket like a potato, twinkling shimmering masses of gems in the night sky. Falling asleep, Lyrica spent her first day out in the ocean. Waking up the next day, Lyrica found herself gasping for air, It's so hot... I want water... It's so weird... There's so much water around me... But why can't I drink it...? Why is the ocean full of salty water...? Am I... Going to die...? Tears started welling up, but all she could manage were watery eyes, her tears wouldn't flow.

I wanna see Royce's smile again... I wanna be scolded by Anastasia... I want Rudz to tell me a lot of things again... I want to see dad's happy face when he eats... I want to hug mom... I want... I want... I wanna! She bawled her eyes out and soaked in sadness.