SOLARIS COAST

"Twenty years ago, Mike, Jake, Sarah, and Jenny came to Solaris Coast to spend their vacation. They were colleagues who loved swimming, and Sarah, in particular, was thrilled. But then she heard a strange noise coming from the sea, as if the ocean itself was calling her. A mystical light emerged from the waves, and before her friends could blink—poof—Sarah was gone!"

Mirai smirked, clearly proud of the nonsense she'd just spun. Her eyes sparkled with mischief as she looked at us, waiting for the inevitable scoffs of disbelief.

But I realized I was wrong in my assumption immediately as Vir screeched himself back from the shore, “Gah! There is no way I am going near that evil fluid.”

“It’s just sea bro.” I tried to assure him. But as he turned back, he found Meiroko standing behind him. “Gah!” He clearly didn’t expect this unintended jump-scare from our ghost princess.

“Well.. sorry to scare..you” She responded. Meanwhile Mirai couldn’t stop herself from rolling around the glowing sand with suppressed laughter.

“Relax Vir. That’s Meiroko, our club member, I told you about.” I explained as Meiroko scanned him from his hair to toe, as if she was analyzing him and his worth with her expressionless red eyes. Normally, people don’t notice her because of her lack of presence. But, today was different. I noticed that she had cut her hair very short. This allowed people to see those eyes of her. I was not sure, but I could guess it might have been the result of our conversation from a few days. And because of it, both guys and girls had been staring at her ever since the bus.

But that was not the only reason people were staring at her. Even though she was kind of thin, she had an attractive body shape, which was clearly visible from her bikini. Sadly, that wasn’t my type.

“Stop staring at her pervert.” I stumbled forward as Mirai punched my shoulder from the back. I turned back, expecting to see a look of disgust in her eyes. But to my surprise, she looked more annoyed than disgusted. She was pouting with her arms crossing over her E-cups. She was mumbling something to her which I didn’t quite catch.

She hugged Meiroko as if trying to protect her from my sight, not realizing she was now attracting from gazes in her direction, considering her perfect figure. Now, that’s my type of body. And let’s be honest, for a guy, there is no better sight in the world than to witness two pretty girls hugging each other in their bikini. It’s peak fiction.

Meanwhile, Vir was still struggling with his freshly injected fear of the sea. I felt bad for the poor guy to miss this once-in-a-lifetime sight.

“When did you guys get so close?” I asked, trying to redirect the conversation.

“We sat.. for an hour… in the bus” Meiroko explained.

“And became besties.” Mirai responded with a cheerful smile. Although, Meiroko’s expressionless face didn’t seem to agree with her. I still didn’t expect these two introverts who hardly spoke to others to get along with each other so well. Good for them.

The day had been amazing so far. After arriving at Solaris Coast, we were taken on an educational tour to see how lumorite crystals were extracted from sea and used. While, our science teachers explained the significance of these shimmering minerals in water purification and energy production, Ms. Lorn explained the significance of this place itself. This place was very immensely important for our city. And the reasons for that were the lumorite crystals, which was one of the most essential parts of our city’s economy.

"These crystals absorb sunlight and convert it into usable energy," a teacher said, holding up a small, glowing shard for us to see. It looked like a fragment of a star trapped in stone.

I wasn’t paying full attention to his lecture, though. My focus kept drifting to the scenery. Solaris Coast was breathtaking—white sands sparkled under the sun, and the waves lapped gently at the shore. Machines hummed in the background, extracting crystals from the seabed, but they didn’t detract from the natural beauty.

Later, we visited an aquarium within the sea, where we saw lifelike artificial mermaids. These animatronics were programmed to swim gracefully in tanks, their tails shimmering with embedded lumorite crystals. They could sing, too, their voices were melodic and eerily realistic.

"Why can't humans be this graceful?" Mirai mused, staring at the mermaids with a dreamy expression.

"well that’s impossible as long as you exist.” I replied.

She pouted and begann punching me like some naïve kid. I chuckled and accepted them as they didn’t hurt much.

After hours of learning, the teachers finally gave us an hour of free time to enjoy the beach. The four of us stuck together, though it quickly became clear that Vir was not thrilled about the idea of swimming.

"I'm not going in there!" he declared, standing a good ten feet from the water.

Come on, Meiroko!" Mirai grabbed Meiroko’s hand and dragged her toward the waves.

Meiroko hesitated, her toes curling in the sand. "I... don't swim much..."

"Neither does Vir," I called out. "But at least he's got an excuse—he’s scared."

"Hey!" Vir protested.

Ignoring him, Mirai splashed into the water, pulling Meiroko along. "Relax! It’s just the ocean. It won’t bite."

Meiroko stood stiffly in the shallow water, watching Mirai with a mixture of confusion and mild annoyance as she began showing off with exaggerated backstrokes and dramatic dives.

"Look at me! I’m a mermaid!" Mirai declared, flipping her hair back in slow motion.

"More like a drowned rat," I quipped, earning a splash in return.

Meanwhile, Vir finally worked up the courage to dip a toe in the water. "It’s cold!" he whined.

"Wow, what an adventurer," I said, sarcastic.

Eventually, I joined the others in the water. We splashed around, laughed, and even managed to convince Meiroko to wade in a little deeper. By the end of the hour, even Vir had gotten used to the water, though he refused to go farther than waist-deep. And for the first I saw genuine smile on Meiroko’s face.

I’ve always loved nature—or at least, what little of it I’ve read about in history modules. This time, it felt like nature was calling me.

So, reluctantly pulling myself away from the fun, I headed toward the toilets near the edge of the beach.

I’d barely started relieving myself when a scream tore through the peaceful sound of crashing waves. It sent a jolt down my spine, and I quickly zipped up, bolting out of the bathroom.

By the time I reached the shore, everyone had gathered in a tight circle near the waterline. Ms. Lorn stood at the center, her arms crossed and her sharp gaze scanning the crowd like a hawk.

“What’s going on?” I asked, jogging up to Vir, who was craning his neck to see over the taller students.

“It’s Remi,” he muttered, nodding toward the middle of the commotion.

Remi was an interesting girl. Or it was better to call her an interestingly boring girl. She was one of those people who would always follow the current trends and do the things only based on their popularity.

Currently, she was clutching a towel to her chest and looking around frantically. Her face was as red as the emergency lights in the bus earlier.

“It’s gone!” she cried.

“What’s gone?” Ms. Lorn strode over, her no-nonsense aura making everyone fall silent.

“My... my p-panty!” Meiroko stammered, her voice barely a whisper but loud enough for everyone to hear.

CHAPTER 15 END