Chain Pair. Fem!Blue-eyed Kurapika. Drabble Series. AU. Nonlinear events. Alternate realities (or reincarnations, your pick). A take on the crueler side to the idea of soul mates. May be an antithesis to Lycoris Radiata.

Warning: Mature and dark themes. Drowning. Implications of suicide. Sexual implications; inexplicit.


i. cleanse the mind, purge the soul, deep, deep within this watery oblivion.


From the other side of the river, he is soaked in blue. Blue that calms, blue that loves—blue which is impassive and incomplete, as it seeps through his very bones.

He stands among the rocks, weathering and wavering in his futile search—and what exactly is he searching for? It is this mystery that lures him to those depths and the unfathomed pull that plunges him further into seeking this indefinable desire of something. Something, he believes, is so close, lapping against his knees, licking on his sleeves. Drawn, drowned, driven—he dives down into the deep dark chasm of what is almost like the sea, breathless and beautiful beneath.

But it is lacking—what, really?

His eyes are blurring, and in that instant, he thinks he is going blind by the blueness of it all. It is when he rises up in bubbling breaths and hurting nostrils that he realizes his reflection is almost unidentifiable, warping further and further into a formless mold of a man. A grim smile ripples on his lips. If Narcissus desires for himself, he desires for his soul. In the water is his truth.

So, he tries again, and alas, he fails (in his damnation).

Because even if the moon ascends high, he still feels the red sun spill from his fingers, and as he grasps for it through his empty palms, the running stream laments in his despair. He waits for the tide until the endless blue comes close to caress him from his neck, sinking him layer upon layer.

Drowning, however, feels far more tragic when the pain (from the water inside his lungs) dulls in comparison when he is breathing in the surface.

From the other side of the river, she is submersed in deep cerulean, painted in its colors, drowned in delight.

Until her lungs crave for oxygen and she parts from these depths before she perishes—and when she does, the air knocks her from her senses, and she struggles in this awareness. As she wanders (wondering if there are heavy chains on her feet, on her heart), she comes to a realization that she treads without destination, in endless streams and circles.

A ripple forms beneath her, and in her bemusement, she questions her very likeness shone on the river. And then she questions herself. She attempts to grasp for her reflection, until her colors almost become colorless, almost become blue, but the water insists on sliding over her palms, and from her fingertips trickle drops of I am I am I am.

Dribbling down her dry tongue, the water tastes of a solution of cold iron and something. Something, she thinks, which makes her tremble, terrified, and ignites a stirring within to act in desperation. To break free from the chains of something—something that reaches, binds her to its detestable fate, but even the tap tap of the river almost sounds like clattering metal. From the bottom of her gut, she decides to run.

So, she tries, and alas, she fails (in her damnation).

Because even if the sun descends to the horizon, the pale moon mocks her from its threshold through its silvery spidery fingers, and as she wades for escape beneath those unfathomable depths, the water embraces her in its kindness. Come, it beckons in gentle waves that promise of relief. So she does, until her tears turn to pearls and her smothered breaths to old dreams.

Engulfed whole, she is cradled by a river that is as vast as the ancient sea.

"One day, we'll meet again," echo a voice from the shores, swish-swish, ". . . again . . . again . . ."

It all comes to full circle when the water becomes their graves. In this life, no one remembers.


A/N: Got inspired while writing an essay for Nietzsche and watching Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.

An update for Lycoris Radiata and Lycoris Aurelia: final chapters should be posted somewhere in March.