“MENIN; μῆνιν”

They told him he was afraid of the water.

They told him there was an accident—on the sea—there had been a storm—

He couldn't really remember any of that.

All he knew was one night he had gone to a pier, steps quiet on the empty boardwalk, moon staring down at him like a giant eye.

He’d felt the waves beneath him, crashing and surging up, up, up, like they were reaching out for him. Like they wanted to pull him into their depths, in an embrace or a chokehold.

He'd reached the end, where the wooden railing sat damp with seawater. He'd stepped up onto the edge, one foot, then the other, shakily rising until he stood above the swirling tide.

The railing seemed to sway under his weight—or maybe that was him, swaying with the water. He looked down at the ocean, the dark blue almost black, the waves loud and eerily quiet at the same time, the moonlight that danced across the ripples of the sea.

And he

began

to fall.

“Seion, no!”

Someone grabbed onto his arm, sending him flailing backwards. He blinked down at the person, feet still atop the rail.

“Seion…” Logan began, hand tight on Seion’s wrist. His hair stuck to the side of his face, wet as rain poured buckets down on them.

Rain? Seion thought. Since when had it been raining?

“Seion, just listen, please,” Logan continued. “Don't do this.”

“Do what?” Seion asked. He glanced back at the water, the waves running into each other as the tide pulled them along, but they no longer reached up for him. He looked up at the sky with a frown, droplets hitting his face rhythmically.

“We're here for you, okay?” Logan said, voice far away and right next to him at the same time. Seion looked back at him, now noticing Kenny and Sora standing next to Logan, drenched with rain and worry.

“Yeah, Sei,” Kenny added, sounding oddly upset. “Whatever you need. You don't have to do this, man.”

“I don't understand,” Seion frowned at him. Before he could say any more, Sora spoke softly.

“Let us help you, Seion. We're your friends and we love you,” she stepped closer, putting a hand on the arm Logan wasn't gripping. “Come back to us.”

“But I'm right here,” Seion insisted. What were they all talking about?

“Sei,” Logan looked at him pleadingly. “Please. Step off the ledge.”

Seion blinked. He looked at the three of them, then back at the water. He looked down at himself, only just then realizing he was still standing atop the railing. “Oh,” he said. “Okay.”

He stepped down onto the pier.

All three of his friends breathed sighs of relief. Logan, who had still had a death grip on his wrist, was the first to hug him, and Kenny and Sora followed closely behind.

“This is nice,” Seion remarked as the rain continued to fall on the four of them. His entire shirt was soaked, but he could've sworn—he could've sworn it hadn't been raining earlier. “What's going on?”

“You had us so worried,” Kenny said after they pulled back. “Why didn't you tell us you felt like this?”

“Felt like this?” Seion repeated, confused. He looked back towards the ocean.

“You know you can always talk to us, Seion,” Sora assured. “If you feel upset, or–or angry, or anything. But—but ending your life isn't the answer.”

“Ending…” Seion repeated, the words cycling through his mind. “My life…?”

Sora hugged him again, looking right about to burst into tears. “It's okay, Sei. It's gonna be okay.”

“But—” Seion’s mouth opened in bewilderment. “But I wasn't—”

“Let's go home,” Logan said. He hadn't let go of Seion’s wrist, like he was afraid the boy might climb up onto the railing again. “Then we can talk.”

“But, guys, I—” Seion’s frown deepened as he realized what the three of them were talking about. “I don't want to die.”

Kenny smiled, somewhat ruefully. “That's good, man. So let's go home and figure this out, alright?”

“Alright,” Seion acquiesced, “but I'm telling you—”

“Come on, Sei,” Sora said and pulled him away from the pier, Logan and Kenny in tow. Seion kept trying to explain, but—

They never got it.

They never got it, even days, weeks, months later, every time he tried to tell them.

He wasn't there to end his life.

He wasn't there to die.

He was there because the sea had called him. He was there because the water made him feel alive. He was there because of this inescapable, uncontrollable feeling that told him the ocean needed him there. Needed him to come and jump.

Jump in the water, yes.

But not to drown.

To swim.

But his friends never got it. All they heard was that his mental state was messed up. He needed help, evidently. Maybe he did. Something about trauma from the old accident, according to his therapist, who seemed to think Seion was suffering from delusions as well as depression.

Seion rubbed his eyes as he fell back onto his bed and groaned. Maybe they were right. Maybe he was just insane and sad.

Maybe.

“Hey, sunshine!” Sora greeted, bursting into his room uninvited. Kenny followed, holding a bag of some sort. “So how are you feeling?” she asked, plopping down next to him on the bed.

Seion stared at her, trying not to look annoyed. That was probably the hundredth time he'd been asked that question today, despite the whole incident on the pier being more than two months ago. “Absolutely fantastic,” he told her. “Life is great. I'm totally sane.” He grabbed a pillow next to him and screamed into it.

“Okay, I get it,” Sora sighed. “We've been fussing over you a little much, huh?”

“A little?” Seion scoffed.

Sora hummed in response. “Maybe too much. So I guess you don't want any of the donuts we got from the bakery?” she asked innocently, looking at her nails. Seion shot up.

“Donuts?” he asked. Kenny held up the bag he was holding. “Give them to me.” He made for the bag, but Kenny held it out of reach. It didn't help that the other boy was taller than a mountain.

“I will, but first,” Kenny shook the bag and Seion crossed his arms. “If something was wrong, you'd tell us, right?”

“Yeah, yeah, okay.” Seion agreed quickly. “Can I have the donuts now?”

Kenny snorted. He looked at Sora, who gave a nod, and Kenny handed Seion the bag, which he immediately opened and began eating from.

“So we were thinking…” Kenny began. Seion looked at him. “Do you wanna go to the arcade with us? Logan said he's coming too.”

“Oh, yeah, I love the arcade,” Seion said between bites.

“Awesome.” Kenny glanced at Sora, unreadable look on his face. “Then let's go.”

“What, now?” Seion asked. The two nodded. “Uh, okay, lemme finish my donuts—”

“You can eat on the way, let's go!” Sora grabbed him and pulled him out of the room before he could even finish his sentence.

Before long, they were at the arcade, Seion playing one of those racing games with Logan, who beat him literally every time. There was no winning against that guy.

“Can’t you just take a dive once?” Seion pleaded. “Let me win one time.”

“Nope,” Logan said simply. Seion could respect that.

They very quickly ran out of money for more tokens, but they did walk out draped in prizes. Or at least Logan did. He had at least ten different ones, while Sora amused herself with a sticky hand and Kenny gave her half his candy. Seion had gotten one measly little plastic boat, which he wasn't even sure would float in the water.

They had been laughing about something as they left the doors of the arcade, so Seion had been relaxed, off-guard. He hadn't been expecting the anger.

The rage.

It seethed and tore and screeched and cried, and it was all so potent Seion physically stumbled, falling to the ground.

“Sei?” Logan said. “You good—”

Seion wasn’t listening. His hands clenched into fists.

He stood and ran.

His friends called his name, but he didn't stop. He tore through the sidewalk, across the street, past buildings and cars, past the palm trees and the people, heading in one direction.

Towards that wrath.

Because it wasn't coming from Seion.

It was coming from the ocean.

He didn't stop until his feet hit sand, until the water reached his calves.

The water pulled back, receded, away from him, back and back, even as he felt it shaking and trembling with fury.

Behind him, he looked around at the beach—all the people, laughing, walking, lounging, playing in the sand—none of them knew what was coming.

Run, he wanted to tell them. RUN.

“Seion!” Logan bumped into him from behind, panting. “What—the heck—are you doing?” he asked between breaths.

A young girl to their left pointed at the water. “Look, mommy!” she said with excitement and delight, when it should have been alarm. “That wave is so big!” Her mother looked up from where she was sitting on a towel, glancing at the ocean.

“Yes, sweetie, it’s—” the woman’s words died in her throat. Her face contorted, fear etching onto her features. She turned to the man beside her, tugging on his arm. “Honey?” she said, voice strangled. “What is that?”

The man lazily tore his gaze away from his phone. “What? It’s just—” and then he, too, found himself unable to speak. “Maybe…” his voice lowered all of a sudden. “Maybe we should head to the car.”

Shouts went up around them, fingers pointing toward the ocean, feet slipping on sand as panic spread like wildfire and people ran for safety.

But there would be no safety. This wrath was unstoppable, inevitable. It wouldn’t matter how far they went. They couldn’t outrun this.

Seion turned back to the sea, eyes on the horizon, where a crest had formed in the distance, white foam a line at the top. It raced toward the beach, only getting higher, stronger, faster.

A tsunami.

“Oh, no,” Logan breathed next to him, frozen in place. “No, no, no. Seion—Seion, we have to go—” he grabbed Seion’s arm, trying to pull him away from the water, but Seion’s feet were rooted to the ground.

“Guys!” he heard Sora behind him, out of breath. Kenny showed up on Seion’s other side. “What’s going on? Why’s everyone’s running—” She cut herself off, eyes wide. “Oh.”

Logan turned to the others. “You two need to get out of here. Right now. Help as many people as you can. Run for the hills or find—find some kind of shelter.”

“But Logan, what about you? And Seion—” Kenny started.

“I’ll get him! Go!” Logan ordered and turned back to Seion, still staring at the wave.

Why are you so angry? Seion thought, feeling the way the water crashed against itself as it rushed unavoidably towards them. He stepped further into the surf, trying to understand, but Logan grabbed his arm and yanked him back.

“Are you crazy?” Logan hissed, pulling him to land.

Seion glanced at him, at the ocean, then back at him. “The—the water—”

“We need to go, Seion.” Logan said firmly, eyes flicking between Seion and the ocean. “Right. Now.”

He jerked Seion’s arm, dragging him away from the water. “The city has measures to prepare for tsunamis. Buses that lead out of the city on planned routes. If we could just get out of here and get on one—”

“No!” Seion said suddenly, tugging his arm out of Logan’s grip. “I need to stay here.” He looked back at the water. “I need to…” he trailed off, not sure what he needed to do, just that the water had called him here for a reason, and if he just had more time, if he stayed, he could understand what was going on, and—

“There’s no time, Seion!” Logan yelled, suddenly angry. “If you’re thinking of trying to drown yourself again, I swear—”

“It isn’t that!” Seion threw back, the ocean’s fury fueling him. He heard the sound of the tsunami getting closer, a deafening roar behind them. “I’m not trying to kill myself, Logan! You don’t understand!”

“Then what, huh?” Logan snapped. “You think you can stop the tsunami? You can’t, Seion! There’s nothing you can do! Now, come on, already! Last chance, or I’m leaving you!” He moved to grab Seion again, but Seion pulled back.

Stop…the tsunami? He repeated in his mind. It was absurd. Impossible. A force of nature couldn’t be stopped.

But Seion felt something. He’d felt it his whole life, every time he was near the water. The way it spoke to him. The way he could understand it. The way it needed him.

“Then leave,” Seion said and turned back to the sea.

He waited until the tsunami was right in front of them. The wave was a wall of water, too high to see the end of. It blotted out the sun, and a shadow fell across the beach—dark, looming, endless.

But Seion stepped forward. His body moved without his mind’s approval. He didn’t know what he was doing, just that he was going to do it. The wave curled above them, gravity threatening to make the water crash down any second.

Time seemed to slow down.

For a moment, just a moment, as he stood before an unstoppable force of nature, fear gripped Seion’s heart. What was he doing here? This was insane. He was going to die.

Then he held out his hand.

It grazed the wave, saltwater slipping between his fingers. The water stirred beneath his hand, like a wild animal deciding whether or not to attack.

And Seion thought, Stop.

The water kept going.

Calm yourself.

It swallowed him whole.

He couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t see. Couldn’t move. But he thought, again: Stop.

The water stopped.

It stopped.

Seion stepped backwards, out of the water. The wave was frozen in place, the water churning in itself, but it didn’t move any further. Then that, too, slowed until the entire sea stood unmoving, as if it was merely a picture. Not real.

Seion took a deep, steadying breath.

“Go back,” he said aloud.

The tsunami listened. It collapsed into itself, folding and falling backwards. The water tumbled back into the sea, leaving the only tidal wave one big enough to scare ants.

The ocean quieted back down, waves coming and retreating in their regular occurrence, the rage and fury dissipated like dandelions in the wind, leaving a sereneness that settled in Seion’s bones. He stared at his hands. He gazed at the sea.

Beside him, Logan swore, falling to his knees. Apparently he hadn’t left, after all. “H–how?” he choked out, clutching at the sand. “You–you were never supposed to know.”

If Seion had been paying attention, he might’ve questioned Logan’s words. Might’ve wondered what that meant. But as it was, he was lost in his thoughts.

He looked back at his hands. Felt the water beneath his feet. Smelled the salty air as a breeze danced past him. Watched the ocean tumble back and forth.

They told him he was afraid of the water.

Something thrummed in his veins. Something unnatural, something powerful. Something ancient, unchained, awoken.

He wasn't afraid of the water.

He could control it.