Ch.5 What to Do Next?

[Tidus’s POV]

It had been a day since the encounter with the Squeemother, yet we remained here due to Atom’s injury that he hasn’t woken up from yet. I still feel guilty about what happened during that encounter, and despite what his companions and my parents told me, I still blamed myself to the point where I can barely look at him right now. “He’s going to forgive you, you know that right? There’s no point in staying in a corner with your back turned to him, he’s more likely to be upset with you about that more than anything, I’d know, I’ve been there” Spectre told me as he sat down in front of me.

“How did that happen?”

“Well.. I had a bit of a fight with another Sodacat because they were pestering Phantom, and then when he found out about it from her, he got upset at me because I hadn’t told him for a week, because I got hurt in the process and didn’t tell him how it happened”

“I wouldn’t blame him for being upset about that honestly, but I’d imagine it’s more because he cares about you both seeing as he’s known you for longer than he’s known me”

“He just cares about everyone he’s ever had an attachment to, and I’m sure he’ll talk it out with you when he wakes up. I need to talk with Phantom and your dad about what to do next while your mother looks after Atom, but feel free to come up to us when you’re feeling better, ok?”

And after that he left to talk with the others. However I could barely bring myself to do anything at that moment…

[Phantom’s POV] 

While we were talking about what to do next, we all came to the conclusion that it wasn’t safe for us to stay here anymore, given the last couple of cave-ins that had occurred recently. And given Atom’s recent injury, it’s just not safe for us to be here, even if we would wake up somewhere else if something were to happen to us… that is the curse of immortality after all…

“So once Atom wakes up, we’re leaving here to find somewhere else right?” Dr. Castelline asked us as she approached. “That’s the plan at least, I’d rather we not stay here any longer honestly” I replied, doubt in my voice as if we might run into any issues on the way to wherever we are going to next. “If anything I’m more worried about Atom, considering he’s done so much for the two of us since we met him here a while ago, and given his hesitation to return. I feel like we should have listened to him, but he also didn’t want us to go alone after we pestered him about it” I said as I looked over at a sleeping Atom that was across from us in the room. “I feel like it’s our fault that this happened to him.. but I know that he’s not mad at us for it, as he only wanted us to be safe…” Spectre mumbled as he leaned against me, trying to create a form of comfort for us both.

“Then we shall head out as soon as possible then, and I know a safe route that we can use to get to wherever it is that we are headed” Dr. Rutile told us as he flopped onto Dr. Castelline’s tail. The size difference between the two was both unusual and adorable to me. I think that learning of the Clayfox’s existence was a lovely little outcome for us during this trip, even if we had a few minor mishaps while trying to figure out the connection to the distress signal. 

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THE DISTRESS SIGNAL

THAT'S WHAT WE WERE HERE FOR ORIGINALLY!!

WE WERE IN THIS ENTIRE MESS TO BEGIN WITH BECAUSE OF THE DISTRESS SIGNAL!!

“Phantom…? Are you ok? You look a bit distressed” Spectre asked as I came to the realisation of why we were back on Awan to begin with. “Spectre. The distress signal. That’s why. We are here. To begin with.” I looked at him dead in the eyes as I spoke. “We came here because of the distress signal, but we still haven’t found anything related to it!” 

“We’ve been so busy with everything else that we forgot about it entirely”

“Distress signal?” Dr. Castelline asked us as we were discussing it. “Yes, there was a distress signal that had been sent out a few days ago, and we came to investigate it but then we just…. We got distracted by everything else” Spectre responded to the doctor’s question. “We will need to find a way to figure out if no one else has found it yet, that is, if it’s still active…”

[Atom’s POV]

I could hear the chattering of the others as Phantom and Spectre remembered about the distress signal we originally came to investigate, however that wasn’t my main concern right now. I decided to walk up slowly to the figure that was curled up into a ball in one of the corners of the room when no one was looking. “Are you giving yourself shit for what happened back there?” I asked Tidus as I lay beside him, placing my head against his shoulder. “What’s it to you if I am? You got hurt in the process when it should have been me”

“Don’t say that, you could barely move, I had to keep you safe and I made a promise to you that I’d keep you safe”

“But you didn’t have to—”

“But I did, because I care about you, even if I may not seem it at times, I do care about you because I knew you back then when we were little, nothing will change that, ever”

There was a bit of silence between us aside from the chattering amongst the others, but I didn’t want to prioritise a conversation with them right now, not when comforting Tidus was a priority for when I woke up. “Spectre told me that you wouldn’t be mad at me for what happened” he mumbled as he nudged me slightly with his snout. “If I was mad at you then you’d know about it, my storm wouldn’t be as calm as it is right now, and besides, I’m not mad, I’m just upset at you because you’re lying here, giving yourself so much shit, all because I was protecting you” our tails intertwined with each other as he calmed down, accepting the comfort that I was providing him with. 

“What do you think will happen once everything has been taken care of?”

“Would you like to come home with me, Phantom and Spectre?

“Are you sure? It doesn’t feel right to do that”

“I want to give you and your parents a better place to live in, especially after everything that you’ve all done for me over the years in the past and even now, it’s the least I can do for you all”

“Then I gladly accept your offer”

After that small conversation, we overheard what the others were talking about in regards to where we could go temporarily while we went to look for the origin of the distress signal, alongside what we’d do afterwards. And then it only took them around 10 minutes to realise that I was awake and that I’d moved over to the corner. “Atom has been awake for a total of half an hour now” Tidus mentioned to them. 

“Now that Atom is awake, let’s get going then shall we?”