"Oh no no no no no," Zami mumbled quickly as his cage slid towards the ship's railing, as though his words would have some kind of effect on gravity itself.

He winced as the cage slammed up against the wall of the deck, yet it didn't cross the railing. He only had a moment to relax, however, before Mythene's cage then crashed into his, sending the both of them toppling over the side and into the dark water below.

Zami managed to take as much of a breath as he could before the ice-cold briny water enveloped him. Today was just a very, very bad day. Perhaps one of the worst in his entire life. No, definitely the worst. He didn't particularly feel like today was the best day to die, but he didn't see much of an alternative. Without his other hand, there was no way he could pick the lock, and definitely not break the iron bars. Even if he was berserking, that would've been impossible in his present state. Not with one arm.

Zami found that the thought of dying wasn't really terrifying to him, not anymore, but it definitely was a bit disappointing. All that work he did, and for what? It wasn't like Bwonsamdi would be so generous as to give him a third chance, either. This was it, he mused begrudgingly. This was his last shot, and he had blown it so spectacularly. Drowning, after all that. After deals with Loa and learning to shapeshift and even falling in… well, it didn't matter, anyway. This was it. It was over. And it was so painfully anticlimactic.

There was no use trying to think about how he could've maybe done this one thing or that one thing just a tiny bit different. What was done was done. No going back, no dwelling on the past. That was how he always wanted to live. And, he supposed, he now decided that was also how he wanted to die. As much of an oxymoron as it seemed, he decided to die looking forward.

As his cage landed against the soft, sandy seabed, Zami heard a faint rustling beside him, and looked over to see Mythene. She was hunched at the bottom of her cage, which had landed beside his, her head bowed and her hands together on her lap in prayer. Zami frowned, slumping down to the bottom of his own cage as he felt his lungs start to burn.

He watched Mythene pray for a moment, resisting the urge to cough and let out his last bits of precious air. She was beautiful like that, he thought. Her silver hair was flowing around her head like a halo. Zami only wished the water was shallow enough to allow the sunlight to glint off it in that way he found so pretty. Oh well. Today wasn't exactly a day for wishes coming true, he figured.

If his brain had been functioning properly on oxygen, Zami probably wouldn't have reached out through the bars of his own cage and into Mythene's. He probably wouldn't have ran his hand through her hair, or down her cheek. But then, he did. And why not? When else would he get the chance, after all? He was going to die in a few minutes, so might as well go out as pleasantly as possible, right?

Mythene opened her white eyes, glancing over back at him. Her expression was curious. Not disgusted or offended, as he'd expected. It was more… apprehensive. That was probably because she felt the same intense burning in her chest that he did. Regardless, after a moment, her expression softened. She closed her eyes once more, bringing her hand over his and interlacing her four lavender fingers between his turquoise three.

Zami finally let out the breath he'd been holding, unable to keep it in any longer. He stared over at Mythene for a moment more, wanting to make sure the sight of her was etched into his memory. Then he closed his eyes, content with that being the last thing he saw.

Only moments after he did so, Zami felt something peculiar poke against the skin of his hand. He tried to ignore it, but then he felt a painful prickle, and had to look over curiously. Zeni was half-crawled out of Mythene's vest pocket, hugging its thorned vine-arms around their joined hands. Zami smiled slightly at the sight, before he got an idea.

Maybe today wasn't going to be the last one, after all.

Unsure how to best communicate his thoughts with Mythene, Zami squeezed her hand very tightly. Perhaps painfully tight, because in response her glowing eyes snapped back open and she scowled over at him. He pointed to Zeni as best he could, hoping she'd understand. He may as well have not even needed the gesture, though. A quick glance at his face was all she ever needed, and he saw her eyes light up with realization when she looked into his.

Mythene wasted no time in relinquishing her hand from his, grasping onto Zeni a bit rougher than she normally may have. The lasher looked at her in an almost curious way, and Mythene just bowed her head, concentrating. Zami tried to just be quiet and not move, even though he was starting to feel a bit light-headed due to the lack of air. His vision blurred significantly as he watched the lasher grow and grow in size, greatly surpassing it's normal, natural size. The last thing Zami could see as his vision darkened was the lasher easily busting the bars of Mythene's cage.

Good, he thought faintly, at least she would be able to possibly save herself. At least Mythene might end up okay, and that would be enough. Even if everybody else was gone, at least Mythene could live. That small bit of hope was enough to bring a smile to his lips.

And then with that, his consciousness faded away into the dark waters, along with the very last air of his lungs.